Joana Inês da Costa Santos
Student number: 2732721
Conflict and Crimes
Preparatory Assignment Tutorial 13.1
What is the difference between human smuggling and human
trafficking?
The difference between human smuggling and human trafficking is in the willingness of
the victims to be recruited, moved, and delivered. Human smuggling is basically the
entry of non-resident or national people into a state, and the victims consent to this and
are free once they arrive at the destination state. In contrast to this, human trafficking
intends to exploit the victims through coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of
power, or vulnerability. This includes sex trafficking, exploitative work, child soldier
trafficking, trafficking of children put up for adoption or organ trafficking. However,
the difference between both terms is not as clear. It is common for victims to pay to go
to a different state (human smuggling) and then end up being exploited.
Respond to the following statement: “It is logical that the act of
human smuggling has been criminalized.”
Human smuggling is criminalized because it presupposes an illegal migration due to an
illegal border crossing. However, it may seem odd to criminal wise human smuggling
since it is a consensual service end by focusing on smugglers the reason the victims
want to flee is overlooked. It can happen with refugees and asylum seekers. They have
no other way to escape but recurring to human smuggling. Taking a closer look at the
motives that push people to engage in these crimes might be a more efficient way to
stop it than criminalizing it. For instance, the smuggling of refugees in the
Mediterranean Sea is a crime, but criminalizing it is not stopping it and might be less
effective than creating peaceful conditions that will not make people want to flee their
countries. During Portugal's dictatorship, it was common for people to pay to
"passadores" - human smugglers they would make Portuguese citizens cross the border
with Spain safely since they were not allowed to leave the country. Portuguese
authorities criminalized this, but the number of smugglers or people crossing the
border did not drop until the end of the dictatorship, which means people only stopped
crossing the border when there were good conditions for them to stay. Smugglers were
not seen as criminals but as saviours who could grant people an opportunity to live
peacefully. This does not mean that crossing borders illegally is safe or correct, but
there are other ways to make it stop. Nevertheless, granting this peaceful environment
is much harder to achieve and probably unwanted by the host states
Student number: 2732721
Conflict and Crimes
Preparatory Assignment Tutorial 13.1
What is the difference between human smuggling and human
trafficking?
The difference between human smuggling and human trafficking is in the willingness of
the victims to be recruited, moved, and delivered. Human smuggling is basically the
entry of non-resident or national people into a state, and the victims consent to this and
are free once they arrive at the destination state. In contrast to this, human trafficking
intends to exploit the victims through coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of
power, or vulnerability. This includes sex trafficking, exploitative work, child soldier
trafficking, trafficking of children put up for adoption or organ trafficking. However,
the difference between both terms is not as clear. It is common for victims to pay to go
to a different state (human smuggling) and then end up being exploited.
Respond to the following statement: “It is logical that the act of
human smuggling has been criminalized.”
Human smuggling is criminalized because it presupposes an illegal migration due to an
illegal border crossing. However, it may seem odd to criminal wise human smuggling
since it is a consensual service end by focusing on smugglers the reason the victims
want to flee is overlooked. It can happen with refugees and asylum seekers. They have
no other way to escape but recurring to human smuggling. Taking a closer look at the
motives that push people to engage in these crimes might be a more efficient way to
stop it than criminalizing it. For instance, the smuggling of refugees in the
Mediterranean Sea is a crime, but criminalizing it is not stopping it and might be less
effective than creating peaceful conditions that will not make people want to flee their
countries. During Portugal's dictatorship, it was common for people to pay to
"passadores" - human smugglers they would make Portuguese citizens cross the border
with Spain safely since they were not allowed to leave the country. Portuguese
authorities criminalized this, but the number of smugglers or people crossing the
border did not drop until the end of the dictatorship, which means people only stopped
crossing the border when there were good conditions for them to stay. Smugglers were
not seen as criminals but as saviours who could grant people an opportunity to live
peacefully. This does not mean that crossing borders illegally is safe or correct, but
there are other ways to make it stop. Nevertheless, granting this peaceful environment
is much harder to achieve and probably unwanted by the host states
