Law Commons^™

For the millions of people who want or need to move, migration has become progressively more expensive and perilous. Legal access to preferred destinations is now an option only for the privileged few. The rest are forced into the arms of those able to help them circum- vent ever-increasing controls and deterrents. Migrant smuggling, the business of moving people across borders for profit, is a sordid and dangerous enterprise, often placing lives and well-being at serious risk. And the dangers do not end there. Many of the world’s migrants find themselves deeply in debt to recruitment agencies, brokers, and sometimes …

Migrant smuggling -the unauthorized movement of individuals across national borders for the financial or other benefit of the smuggler - has emerged as a major issue of concern for States and the international community. This chapter provides a detailed analysis of the specialist legal framework around this issue that developed within the framework of transnational criminal law. It then examines the broader rules that come into play in relation to several migrant smuggling issues of high contemporary significance: interception and rescue at sea (with specific reference to international maritime law) and protection and return of smuggled migrants (with specific reference …