Smugglers Inc.: The Illicit Industry in Human Migration

Abstract

The growing number of people migrating irregularly across the globe has prompted states to increasingly militarise their borders. In Europe, warships now patrol the Mediterranean, with the mandate to “break the business model of smugglers”. This article examines the business model of smugglers, to demonstrate that in the case of migrant smuggling, where demand for irregular movement is high and few legal alternatives exist, securitisation results in larger demand for smugglers’ services, more criminal and violent providers of those services, and far greater vulnerability for people on the move.