Smuggling Vs Human Trafficking Essay

Attention to border control and the issues of illicit migrant smuggling and human trafficking have received increasing focus by international organizations, state officials, and non-governmental organizations. The terms migrant smuggling and human trafficking are often conflated, and though these activities can be interrelated, important differences require specific mention. The key difference between these activities is that victims of trafficking are seen as victims of a crime under international law, while smuggled migrants are not because they pay smugglers to facilitate their movement. In other words, human trafficking is a crime against an individual, while migrant smuggling is a crime against the state. The U.S. Department of State

In contrast, migrant smuggling features: illegal border crossing; illegal (false of stolen) documents; voluntary; and the commodity is a service through movement. Nonetheless, migrants who are smuggled can be extremely vulnerable to human trafficking, abuse, and other crimes due to the illegality of their presence in the destination country and the accrued debt to their smugglers, and may be subjected to labor or sex trafficking enroute - which qualifies as human trafficking (U.S. Department of State). Not all smuggling cases include human trafficking, nor do all human trafficking cases begin with migrant smuggling, but migrant smuggling can turn into human trafficking if the circumstances change during the journey or upon arrival in the destination country (Ibid). It is crucial for law enforcement, policymakers, and civil society organizations to be cognizant of the differences between human trafficking and migrant smuggling to ensure that trafficking victims receive the due process of law, services, and protections entitled to them to ensure that they are not re-exploited and are able to gain control of their futures. A subsequent section of the group paper will review the impacts of human