Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Smuggling of the Human

As there have been poverty and discriminations in different parts of world, there have been different types of social problems as well. Among them one of the most dominating one erupting from the countries with disorder and poverty is Human smuggling. Human smuggling is defined as ‘the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries laws, either clandestinely or through deception, such as the use of fraudulent documents’. The term is understood as and often used interchangeably with migrant smuggling, which is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime as "...the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a state party of which the person is not a national"
Human smuggling takes place when the person being smuggled gets into any sort of agreement with the smuggler and gives his consent to be smuggled to the desired country. The agreement is basically decided on a particular amount of money that has to be paid by the customer to the smuggler after reaching to the destination. Human smuggling is not the same as the human trafficking as both the concepts differ from each other in certain ways. In human trafficking the consent of the customer is not involved and they are trafficked from one place to another for certain purposes; throughout the process they serve as a commodity that can be bought and sold whether they agree upon it or not. In most of the cased they do not even realize that they are being bought and sold.
Human smuggling is a complex phenomenon and it involves different individuals and some times groups. The whole process actually includes these individuals and groups as various players at different locations that take the customers to their desired place. The techniques used by different individuals and groups differ from one another and they include both legal and illegal ways of crossing the borders. One of the most disturbing facts about human smuggling is that it includes the risk of life. The illegal ways that are adopted through the process include very risky attempts within which the people can easily lose their lives. However, the facts show that people consider this choice much better than the lives they are having in their own countries and happily agree to opt it. Another fact is that the people being smuggled do not always involve young men. They also include children, women and even old people and this makes the process even more pathetic.
Human smuggling is mostly a trend in the countries where the standard of life is not satisfactory and people suffer because of lack of economic facilities or they are threatened by instability that has even jeopardized their lives. Feeling dissatisfies for life or threatened by danger, they agree to give the rights of their lives to someone whom they may not even know and for that they even pay money. What they only have in their minds is the dreams of better lives, which may not be fulfilled at all but may easily fill the pocket of the ones who are involved in this dirty game.
Human smuggling has been happening in different part of the world. Over the years, smuggling has evolved into a sophisticated service industry, with certain routes and enclaves used by smugglers becoming practically institutionalized; for example: from Mexico and Central America to the United States, from West Asia through Greece and Turkey to Western Europe, and within East and Southeast Asia. Responsible for the flourishing business of people smuggling are a combination of interacting factors, from weak legislation and lax border controls to corrupt officials and the power of organized crime.