How widespread is migrant smuggling?
It is difficult to assess the real size of migrant smuggling because it is a crime that takes place underground and is often not identified or is misidentified. Information currently available is too scattered and too incomplete to be able to show accurately the numbers of people smuggled each year and the routes and methods used by those who smuggle them. However, the evidence available reveals that criminals are increasingly providing smuggling services to irregular migrants. As border controls improve, more migrants are diverted into the hands of smugglers. Further, not all persons who migrate have the legal opportunities to do so; as more and more people seek to migrate in search of a better life for themselves and their families, sometimes fleeing lack of employment opportunities, sometimes fleeing extreme poverty, natural disaster or persecution, a demand is created for services to help them. Profit-seeking criminals take advantage of this.
