Who are the smuggled migrants and who are migrant smugglers?
There may be a range of different actors performing a range of different roles in the smuggling process. Small-scale smugglers would generally not employ other actors in the process but arrange all aspects of the actual operation themselves. Within larger smuggling networks there will be a division of work among the actors involved. Often, those individuals at the top of migrant smuggling networks are the most difficult to identify and bring to justice. Unless their activites are stopped, migrant smuggling will continue. It is also difficult to generalize about the people using the services of smugglers since their profile constantly evolves with changing circumstances. Smuggled migrants can be men, women and children. Some studies from different parts of the world have shown that the first migrants who are smuggled are young men. This is often due to the expectations placed on males to provide for their families; often such men will have to risk their own life in order for a chance to
