Do many smugglers get caught and convicted?
The absence or the inadequecy of legislation means that often migrant smugglers can continue their crime with little fear of being brought to justice. Only a limited number of governments have specific policies and mechanisms in place to address the crime. Lack of capacity to investigate and prosecute migrant smuggling means that criminal justice systems are often inadequate to meet the challenge of combating migrant smuggling. Beyond this, failure to secure smuggled migrants as witnesses to migrant smuggling crimes means that prosecutions are often difficult and opportunities to convict are missed. Key to combating migrant smuggling, is the need to increase international cooperation to ensure that actors in countries of origin, transit and destination work together to ensure that migrant smugglers do not have safe havens in the commission of their crime.
