In this feature, part of a series exploring human trafficking in the Sahel, UN News focuses on migrant smuggling.
Migrant smugglers have reaped great profits over the past decade in the Sahel, where armed violence, terrorist attacks and climate shocks have displaced many. three million people and causing more and more people to flee, according to a new threat assessment report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
External threats such as the crisis in Sudan are creating a “snowball effect” over the region, Mar DieyeUN Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator in the Sahel, says UN News.
“Failing to stop the fire that started in Sudan and then spread to Chad and other regions could be an international disaster,” said Dieye, who also heads the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel. will cause more migration.”university).
Key migrant smuggling routes into and to Mali (2020/2021)
‘We’ll Take You Anywhere’
Right now, most trafficking happens in areas of loose, unregulated borders, where the State is “extremely weak,” said Mr. Dieye.
The latest UNODC report identified other drivers along with solutions reinforced by interviews with migrants and criminals smuggling them, who revealed how crime crosses borders. happening in towns across the Sahel.
Many interviewees said illegal migration was cheaper and faster than regular migration, the report found. In Mali, where the average monthly income is $74, a passport costs almost $100.
In Niger, a key informant said it could take three to four months for authorities to process the official document.
“But with us, if you want to, we’ll take you anywhere,” said the informant.
If a passport is needed, a smuggler in Mali said in the report, “I’ll have it in 24 hours.”
According to the United Nations, as a result of governments’ border closures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 across West Africa, at least 30,000 migrants have been stranded at the border.
‘cash’ partnership
The report points out that corruption is both a motivator to use by smugglers and a key enabler of crime.
According to UNODC, migrant smugglers can earn around $1,400 a month, 20 times the average income in Burkina Faso.
“Lucky smugglers” can make between $15,000 and $20,000 a month, one Niger-based smuggler said in the report.
One Malian smuggler explained that his level of cooperation with state officials was so close that he was “not afraid of being punished by the authorities”, according to the report.
“I was never worried by the authorities,” said the smuggler. “We’re in a cash partnership.”
Recalling cases when visiting police checkpoints, a key informant interviewed in Niger shared his experience.
“You go to them and give them envelopes, but if you don’t know anyone in the group, you are obligated to take the migrants out and put them on motorbikes to bypass the checkpoint,” the provider said. provide more information.
Migrants sit on cushions spread on the floor at a detention center in Libya.
Greater risk than ever
According to UNODC, the growing need of men, women and children to find a way out of the growing violence and consequent increased food insecurity has fueled cross-border crime. .
Since the discovery of gold rimming the area in 2012, UNODC says the research points to mining sites where women are trafficked for sexual exploitation and men are forced into hard labor.
According to the agency, smuggling routes have also become more secret and diversified to evade increasing efforts by security forces, exposing refugees and migrants to risks and risks. the danger is even greater.
Originating from the flow
All Sahel countries except Chad are members of Protocol Against Smuggling of Migrantssupplement for United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crimeand there are dedicated laws that are making progress, the report states.
UNODC reported that, on the ground, the operations are taking place successfully. Among the many examples cited in the report, a 2018 campaign saw Nigerien police officers arrest ringleaders and dismantle a highly organized network suspected of smuggling goods. thousands of people emigrated to Spain, including through Niger, Libya and Algeria.
To build on these achievements, UNODC recommends that countries take action to tackle migrant smuggling, address the root causes, fight corruption and create local employment opportunities. The agency also suggests that anti-smuggling policies include human rights and development approaches.
A young migrant from Niger is being housed in a UN-supported camp in Burkina Faso.
Uproot the causes
For many UN agencies and Sahelian countries, cooperation is key. Ongoing International Migration Office (IOM) including promoting the livelihoods of returning migrants and establishing new partnerships, including a recent one agreement with the G5 Sahel Force, a multinational mission to stabilize the region.
“For IOM, regional cooperation is essential to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration and to respond effectively to challenges,” said IOM Director General António Vitorino.
The new agreement, he said, provides an opportunity for common, tailored approaches to address the complex causes of conflict, instability and forced displacement, adding that “finding Such a solution will be a stepping stone in our overall cooperation to improve conditions for the people of the Sahel.”
A Mauritania veil is traditionally made, in a shop run by a returning immigrant.
Meanwhile, UNISS continues to work with all UN organizations and partner countries on such efforts as Unlimited Sahel Generation and help Sahelians support their families, Mr. Dieye said, noting that the current situation remains “extremely worrying”.
“It will require a collective response,” he said. “No country can deal with it alone. I think this has to be in the heart of the international community. After all, it is an international crime.”
What is the difference between smuggling and human trafficking?
According to UNODC, migrant smuggling and human trafficking are two separate but often linked crimes.
- Although trafficking aims to exploit a person, who may or may not be a migrant, by definition the purpose of smuggling is to profit from facilitating illegal border crossings.
- Trafficking may take place in the victim’s home country or in another country.
- smuggling migrants always occurs across national borders.
- Some migrants may begin their journey by agreeing to bring illegal immigrants into a country, but end up being victims of human trafficking when they are deceived, coerced, or deceived. or forced into exploitation in the process, such as being forced to work for free or with very little money to pay for their transportation.
- Criminals can be both smuggling and human trafficking, using the same routes and modes of transportation.
- Illegal migrants have no guarantee that their smugglers are not actually traffickers.
- Learn more about how UNODC is working to extinguish it smuggling migrants And trafficking.
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