In detail, find out what migrants are paying for smuggling networks around the world

محمد بنكسم Free Membership

A study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) identified 30 major and sub-routes for smuggling irregular migrants around the globe. In 2016, 2.5 million migrants were smuggled, and smugglers earned between $ 5.5 billion and $ 7 billion, equivalent to the amount of humanitarian aid provided by EU countries in 2016, according to the UN study.

The study provides details of how much migrants pay for smuggling networks, which vary considerably from region to region depending on various factors.

The study states that smugglers determine the compensation they require for candidates for irregular migration based on the length of the smuggling journey, the season in which it takes place, the number of border points that pass through it, the rugged geographical conditions surrounding it, and also the means used to transport migrants. Forged or forged identity documents, as well as the risk of authorities detaining migrants.

Trafficking charges
1- From Nepal and India to the United States (by air): the immigrant pays between 27 and 47 thousand dollars.
2 - From India to Europe (by air): between 15 and 30 thousand dollars.
3 - From Afghanistan to Western Europe (by air): between 10 and 15 thousand dollars.
4. From Afghanistan to Western Europe (overland): about $ 10,000.
5- From Pakistan to Western Europe (by air): between 12 and 18 thousand dollars.
6. From Vietnam to Western Europe (by air and land): between 7 and 15 thousand dollars.
7. From Central America to the United States through Mexico (by road): between $ 4 and $ 15,000.
8. From Pakistan to Western Europe (by road): between $ 3,000 and $ 8,000.
9. From the Turkish coast to the Greek islands (by sea): between $ 1000 and $ 8,000.
10. From France to the UK (by sea or by road through the Channel Tunnel): between $ 5,000 and $ 7,500.
11. From Mexico to the United States (by road): about $ 5,000.
12. From Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia to Libya (overland): about $ 4,000.
13. From the Horn of Africa to South Africa (by land and sometimes by sea): between $ 3,000 and $ 3,500.
14. From Somalia and Sudan via Egypt and Libya (by road): between $ 2,000 and $ 3,500.
15. From Agadez, west of Niger, to the coast of Libya (overland): between $ 2,000 and $ 3,000.
From Libya to Italy (by sea): between $ 500 and $ 2,500.
17. From Malta to Italy (secondary route for smuggling by sea): about $ 1,100.
18. From Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia via the city of Bosasso in Somalia (land, sea and land): $ 900.
19. From Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia via the region of Abouk, Djibouti (by land, sea and land): $ 850.
20. From Agadez to Sabha in the far south of Libya (by road): between $ 100 and $ 300.
22. From Bosasso to Somali (by sea): between $ 120 and $ 150.
23. From your father in Djibouti to Yemen (by sea): between $ 60 and $ 200.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has drawn figures related to migrants' payments to smugglers from multiple studies conducted by UNODC itself, from international centers specializing in migration research, the European Commission, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children's Fund or a university. Princeton American and other institutions.

Great tracks
The UN study examines eight major migrant smuggling routes around the world:

- From Central America to North America : Smugglers made $ 3.7 billion to $ 4.2 billion in both 2014 and 2015, and between 735 and 820,000 migrants were transported annually.
From West Africa to the North to Europe : Smugglers earned between $ 760 million and more than $ 1 billion in 2016, and 380,000 migrants were smuggled.
- Across the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe : Smugglers earned between $ 320 and $ 550 million in 2016, and about 375,000 migrants were smuggled.
- From the Horn of Africa across the north of the continent to Europe: Smuggling networks made between 300 and 500 million dollars between 2013 and 2015, in which 100,000 people were smuggled.
From West and South Asia to Europe (mainly Iraq and Syria): Smugglers earned about $ 300 million in 2016 after transporting 162,000 migrants.

- From the Mekong in Southeast Asia to Europe and North America : Smugglers in 2009 made about $ 192 million and fled 550,000 migrants.
- To South Africa : Between 2013 and 2016, smugglers made more than $ 45 million annually, transporting 25,000 migrants each year.
- From the Horn of Africa to Yemen (by sea): Smugglers in 2016 earned between 9 and 22 million dollars, and transported 117 thousand migrants.
- By sea ​​to Australia: (statistics not available).

Smugglers' networks
There are large networks of smuggling of migrants that are transnational, and do not necessarily have ethnic links between smugglers and migrants, but young smugglers are often ethnically associated with the countries in which they operate, and have ethnic and linguistic relations with migrants or share the same nationality.

Smugglers are usually organized into loose networks that do not operate in strict hierarchy, so that members of the same network operate independently of other parties responsible for other tasks, whether it involves attracting a group of migrants, falsifying travel and identity documents, preparing smuggling vessels or facilitating border crossing points. . The parties involved in the smuggling chain usually work with more than one network.

Migrant smuggling networks are generally not involved in other forms of transnational crime, but in some areas where there are links between migrant smuggling networks and organized crime networks, for which smugglers pay money to ensure the safety of migrants, as in Mexico.

Bribery practices remain linked to the activity of the world's migrant smuggling networks, whether for small sums of money provided to border guards, or large sums paid to senior government officials to facilitate smuggling.

Flight risks
Migrant smuggling trips are not without many of the most serious risks of death, according to UNODC data for 2017 that 58% of deaths of irregular migrants are related to boat drowning (3597 cases), followed by 19% of cases related to harsh flight conditions. Or diseases (1165 cases).

8% of deaths are related to traffic accidents of vehicles or trains (482), 7% of deaths remain obscure (406), and 6% of deaths are caused by homicides (382).

Important details
According to the UN study, while smugglers on the Mediterranean route do not guarantee migrants who fail to reach their destination to return the ball for free, smugglers in the eastern Mediterranean route provide this guarantee, as is the smuggling route from India to Europe.

In the smuggling route from South Asia to Europe, the smugglers, along with transporting migrants to their destination, provide jobs, living expenses and transport until they meet their employers.

A group of smugglers requires migrants to pay the smuggling fee in full before crossing the border to the final destination, but in most cases migrants pay in installments depending on their route, in other cases part of the agreed amount is paid before crossing the border, and the rest on arrival. Desirable.

In most cases, payment is made through remittances, a payment method which requires the participation of relatives, friends or acquaintances in the country of origin. After the arrival of the immigrant to his desires.

When the remittance is not a means of payment, the migrant, through acquaintances in his country of origin, pays the smugglers fees through the money transfer offices after ensuring that the migrant reaches his destination.