{"id":364,"date":"2022-07-22T08:45:46","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T08:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/?p=364"},"modified":"2022-07-22T08:46:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T08:46:55","slug":"debunking-the-myth-of-the-evil-people-smuggler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/index.php\/debunking-the-myth-of-the-evil-people-smuggler\/","title":{"rendered":"Debunking the myth of the \u2018evil people\u00a0smuggler\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/yvonne-su-742700\">Yvonne Su<\/a>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/york-university-canada-1610\">York University, Canada<\/a><\/em> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/corey-robinson-1362381\">Corey Robinson<\/a>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/durham-university-867\">Durham University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;\" allowtransparency=\"\" allow=\"clipboard-read; clipboard-write\" data-src=\"https:\/\/narrations.ad-auris.com\/widget\/the-conversation-canada\/debunking-the-myth-of-the--evil-people-smuggler-\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In 2022, the number of forcibly displaced people surpassed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/refugee-statistics\/insights\/explainers\/100-million-forcibly-displaced.html\">100 million worldwide<\/a>. Nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/world\/resettlement-gap-record-number-global-refugees-few-are-resettled\">1.5 million refugees<\/a> will need resettlement in 2022, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/uk\/resettlement.html\">less than one per cent of refugees<\/a> will be resettled.  <\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Across the globe, the declining rate of refugee resettlement and the absence of legal avenues has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.refugeecouncil.org.au\/boat-arrivals\/\">forced refugees to use smugglers to cross borders<\/a> to access refugee protection. <\/p>\n<p>In response to these trends, high-income countries have introduced draconian deterrence measures that prevent people from reaching their territory to claim asylum. <\/p>\n<p>By virtue of their irregular arrival, refugees who enlist smugglers to claim asylum are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/desperatejourneys\/\">criminalized and and often pushed back<\/a>, which prevents them from accessing the rights of refugee status outlined in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/1951-refugee-convention.html\">1951 Refugee Convention<\/a>. <\/p>\n<h2>The \u2018Rwanda Plan\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The United Kingdom has been at the forefront of efforts to deter and prevent refugees from seeking asylum on its territory. The U.K. has an established track record of using draconian measures to deter migrants. <\/p>\n<p>When she was home secretary in 2012, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/theresa-may-windrush-migrants-hostile-environment-b2086746.html\">Theresa May stated<\/a> that her aim \u201cwas to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration.\u201d She later served as prime minister. Successive governments have maintained this agenda, culminating in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/04\/14\/europe\/uk-rwanda-migrant-deal-gbr-intl\/index.html\">U.K. and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The \u201cRwanda Plan\u201d involves transferring asylum seekers and migrants arriving \u201cillegally\u201d in the U.K. \u2014 such as those crossing the English Channel in boats \u2014 to Rwanda, where they will be processed and resettled.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A woman giving a speech from behind a podium\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/475225\/original\/file-20220720-9522-8pfmqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/475225\/original\/file-20220720-9522-8pfmqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=600&#038;h=376&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/475225\/original\/file-20220720-9522-8pfmqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=30&#038;auto=format&#038;w=600&#038;h=376&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/475225\/original\/file-20220720-9522-8pfmqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=15&#038;auto=format&#038;w=600&#038;h=376&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/475225\/original\/file-20220720-9522-8pfmqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;h=473&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/475225\/original\/file-20220720-9522-8pfmqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=30&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;h=473&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/475225\/original\/file-20220720-9522-8pfmqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=15&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;h=473&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=3 2262w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">Britain\u2019s Home Secretary Priti Patel speaks to the media after signing what the two countries called an \u2018economic development partnership\u2019 in Kigali, Rwanda on April 14, 2022.<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">(AP Photo\/Muhizi Olivier)<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The plan has been widely condemned by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2022\/jun\/14\/european-court-humam-right-makes-11th-hour-intervention-in-rwanda-asylum-seeker-plan\">international courts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/my-europe\/2022\/06\/01\/an-abomination-charities-react-as-uk-orders-first-migrant-deportation-flight\">charities<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/politics\/2022\/06\/13\/rwanda-deportation-plan-branded-national-shame-church-england\/\">religious groups<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/jun\/25\/stars-urge-commonwealth-to-oppose-uk-plan-to-send-refugees-to-rwanda\">celebrities<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/2cca92d7-f771-4501-9a17-f91cdfae2bdc\">asylum seekers<\/a>. The UN Refugee Agency has \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2022\/04\/1116342\">firmly opposed<\/a>\u201d the partnership and re-emphasized that state actions that prevent refugees from reaching destination countries and claiming asylum lead to the shifting, rather than the sharing, of responsibilities to protect asylum seekers.<\/p>\n<p>In her speech on April 14, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/oral-statement-on-rwanda\">Home Secretary Priti Patel argued<\/a> the following:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cEvil people smugglers and their criminal gangs are facilitating people into Europe, resulting in loss of life and huge costs to the U.K. taxpayer. The tragic loss of life of people in the Channel and in the Mediterranean at the hands of those evil smugglers must stop.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In pursuing its deterrence agenda, the U.K. has shifted the blame for dangerous and deadly journeys away from its hostile policies, toward a new faceless boogeyman: evil people smugglers. By doing this, the Rwanda Plan is presented as a way to protect vulnerable people from smugglers. <\/p>\n<p>Secretary Patel\u2019s comments reflect a strategy that has been adopted by many wealthy nations in response to the rising number of asylum seekers arriving \u201cillegally.\u201d By portraying smuggling as dangerous, criminal and deadly, these nations obscure the role violent borders play in contributing to the conditions under which migrant smuggling proliferates.<\/p>\n<h2>Letting nations off the hook<\/h2>\n<p>The narrow portrayal of smugglers as evil, greedy criminals provides a convenient scapegoat for governments, policymakers and journalists. The figure of the smuggler offers an ideal boogeyman for our anxious times because they embody an external danger that states can protect citizens against.<\/p>\n<p>By framing the global crackdown on migrant smuggling as a battle between good and evil, wealthy nations hide <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.allard.ubc.ca\/fac_pubs\/14\/\">the role their policies play<\/a> in creating the global market for smuggling in the first place.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A group of men are escorted by several border force officers in bright yellow vests\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474689\/original\/file-20220718-20-61y4wa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474689\/original\/file-20220718-20-61y4wa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=600&#038;h=423&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474689\/original\/file-20220718-20-61y4wa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=30&#038;auto=format&#038;w=600&#038;h=423&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474689\/original\/file-20220718-20-61y4wa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=15&#038;auto=format&#038;w=600&#038;h=423&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474689\/original\/file-20220718-20-61y4wa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;h=532&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474689\/original\/file-20220718-20-61y4wa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=30&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;h=532&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474689\/original\/file-20220718-20-61y4wa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=15&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;h=532&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=3 2262w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">Border Force officers escort a group of men thought to be migrants to a waiting bus in the port city of Dover, England, in August 2020.<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">(AP Photo\/Kirsty Wigglesworth)<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Instead, culpability for these tragedies is attributed to unscrupulous smugglers, stereotypically represented as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/newsletter\/london-playbook\/rwanda-deal-johnson-speech-patel-presser\/\">people smuggling gangs<\/a>\u201d that prey on the vulnerabilities of people on the move. <\/p>\n<p>While it may be politically advantageous to portray smugglers as criminals, and smuggled people as victims of exploitation and abuse, this characterization is disingenuous and serves to rationalize draconian deterrence measures that violate the right refugees have to seek asylum.<\/p>\n<h2>The migrant smuggling industry<\/h2>\n<p>To be sure, migrant smuggling is a growing industry for organized crime. Smugglers facilitated the irregular transit and entry of roughly 2.5 million migrants in 2016 and made an estimated profit of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unodc.org\/documents\/data-and-analysis\/glosom\/GLOSOM_2018_web_small.pdf\">US$7 billion<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>In the pursuit of profit, smugglers often take advantage of migrants and asylum seekers who are vulnerable to violence, theft, sexual assault and extortion. Nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/missingmigrants.iom.int\/data\">50,000 migrants have died since 2014<\/a>, many drowning in the Mediterranean on risky journeys facilitated by smugglers.  <\/p>\n<p>However, the stereotypical accounts of migrant smuggling, based on graphic stories of violence, exploitation and profit maximization, is limited. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taylorfrancis.com\/chapters\/oa-edit\/10.4324\/9781003043645-32\/war-smugglers-expansion-border-apparatus-lorena-gazzotti\">migration scholar Lorena Gazzotti states<\/a>, this portrayal of smugglers as \u201can inherently deviant, dangerous figure is deceiving.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Organized crime researchers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hurstpublishers.com\/book\/migrant-refugee-smuggler-saviour\/\">Peter Tinti and Tuesday Reitano<\/a> provide some additional nuance: \u201cIt is certainly true that smugglers profit from the desperation of others, but it is also true that in many cases smugglers save lives, create possibilities and redress global inequalities.\u201d <\/p>\n<h2>Narrative needs to shift<\/h2>\n<p>Organizations like the International Organization for Migration also characterize smugglers in black-and-white terms: \u201cthe large-scale smuggling of migrants across international borders is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iom.int\/counter-migrant-smuggling\">global threat<\/a> to migration governance, national security and the well-being of migrants.\u201d They offer their services to help states \u201cdisrupt migrant-smuggling operations.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>While signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/3bcfdf164.pdf\">prohibited from punishing asylum seekers<\/a> for using smugglers to enter a country of refuge \u201cillegally,\u201d refugee claimants who enlist the services of intermediaries are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/44484134\">often cast as \u201cbogus refugees.\u201d<\/a> Those who aid the entry of asylum seekers for humanitarian reasons are also criminalized and demonized by governments as \u201csmugglers.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Someone holding a sign that says 'Refugee rights are human rights'\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474690\/original\/file-20220718-4540-vpiteh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474690\/original\/file-20220718-4540-vpiteh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=600&#038;h=400&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474690\/original\/file-20220718-4540-vpiteh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=30&#038;auto=format&#038;w=600&#038;h=400&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474690\/original\/file-20220718-4540-vpiteh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=15&#038;auto=format&#038;w=600&#038;h=400&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474690\/original\/file-20220718-4540-vpiteh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;h=503&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474690\/original\/file-20220718-4540-vpiteh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=30&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;h=503&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/474690\/original\/file-20220718-4540-vpiteh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=15&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;h=503&#038;fit=crop&#038;dpr=3 2262w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">Protesters stand outside The Royal Court of Justice in London that will hear a legal challenge opposing the Home Office\u2019s new asylum deal with Rwanda.<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">(AP Photo\/Frank Augstein)<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is illustrated in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewhumanitarian.org\/news-feature\/2022\/06\/08\/How-LGBTQI-to-LGBTQI-support-is-helping-Ukrainian-refugees-find-safety-in-the-EU\">criminalization of the evacuation of LGBTQ+ refugees from Ukraine<\/a> and the criminalization of aid for refugees <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewhumanitarian.org\/news-feature\/2019\/06\/20\/european-activists-fight-criminalisation-aid-migrants-refugees\">throughout Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/smuggling-of-migrants-and-refugees.html\">UN Refugee Agency recognizes<\/a> that people fleeing persecution are often forced to resort to smuggling. Despite this, the prevailing narrative around migrant smuggling has clouded the public\u2019s understanding of the issue by obscuring the role smuggling plays in helping refugees gain asylum and rationalizing a global crackdown on refugees in the name of combating evil smugglers.<\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/yvonne-su-742700\">Yvonne Su<\/a>, Assistant Professor in the Department of Equity Studies, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/york-university-canada-1610\">York University, Canada<\/a><\/em> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/corey-robinson-1362381\">Corey Robinson<\/a>, Lecturer in International Relations, School of Government and International Affairs, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/durham-university-867\">Durham University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This article is republished from <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/debunking-the-myth-of-the-evil-people-smuggler-187059\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yvonne Su, York University, Canada and Corey Robinson, Durham University In 2022, the number of forcibly displaced people surpassed 100 million worldwide. Nearly 1.5<a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/index.php\/debunking-the-myth-of-the-evil-people-smuggler\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAowu7GVCw:productID":"","_crdt_document":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[484,933,936,485,722,358,486,935,487,493,492,491,490,551,937,489,488,494,495,496,932,497,498,934,499,500,931,504,503,724,723,502,501],"class_list":["post-364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-aftermath-of-war","tag-asylum-seeker","tag-canada","tag-corey-robinson","tag-creative-commons","tag-cultural-globalization","tag-demography","tag-dover","tag-durham-university","tag-forced-displacement","tag-forced-migration","tag-human-rights","tag-human-rights-abuses","tag-humans","tag-kigali","tag-lorena-gazzotti","tag-peter-tinti","tag-population","tag-priti-patel","tag-refugee","tag-refugees","tag-reitano","tag-right-of-asylum","tag-rwanda","tag-rwanda-asylum-plan","tag-smuggling","tag-social-issues","tag-the-un-refugee-agency","tag-theresa-may","tag-ukraine","tag-united-kingdom","tag-york-university","tag-yvonne-su"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/file-20220720-11760-4t8hrw-1024x683.jpg","blog_images":{"medium":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/file-20220720-11760-4t8hrw-300x200.jpg","large":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/file-20220720-11760-4t8hrw-1024x683.jpg"},"ams_acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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