Methods: We analyse 71 interviews with migrants who travelled on the CMR in and , with a focus on 17 participants who experienced forced labour. Results: We find clear overlaps and crossovers between smuggling of migrants, forced labour, debt bondage, extortion, kidnapping and human trafficking.
Notably, we observed transitions from trafficking to smuggling β a phenomenon rarely reported. This includes cases where people negotiated boat crossings with their traffickers as a means of escaping detention. Conclusion: Given the challenges in neatly categorising some experiences as either smuggling or trafficking under international law, we call for humanitarian protection based on the hardships that people experienced en route, rather than on dichotomous legal categorisations or on their initial motivations for leaving.
There has been an increase in empirical research on overlaps between smuggling and trafficking in persons in recent years see, e. Through detailed personal narratives of migration trajectories along the Central Mediterranean Route CMR to Europe, we examine overlaps and transitions between smuggling and trafficking and consider the conceptual, practical and policy-related implications.
Both smuggling and trafficking are defined in international law in protocols to the same convention: the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime UN As such, the dominant lens for policies and interventions is one of countering organised crime, and responses to both issues have long been tied up with anxieties around irregular migration and political interest in tougher border control Bird Yet, smuggling is generally conceived as a crime against the state a violation of its borders , wherein individuals are transported across borders consensually.
By contrast, trafficking is generally viewed as a crime against the person a violation of their human rights , in which people are moved against their will. In the dominant discourse, not only is the agency of trafficked people routinely understated see, e. To do so, we must start from the messiness and complexity of real-world migration journeys. This study delves into the dynamics of smuggling and trafficking by analysing interviews with 71 people who travelled on boats from Libya, were rescued at sea, and disembarked in Malta in and By examining their journeys, we reveal how experiences of exploitation meeting international legal definitions of trafficking are situated within broader migration journeys, at least parts of which are smuggler-facilitated.
