Human trafficking vs. people smuggling

 

There are four main differences between trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants:

 

1. Consent to enter a country illegally: Smuggling migrants, although often undertaken in dangerous or humiliating conditions, involves consent. Some trafficked persons might start their journey by agreeing to be smuggled into a country illegally, but many do not, and never have any intention of doing so. In cases of trafficking from third countries, the victim may enter a country legally, on a tourist or student visa, (sometimes obtained with the help of traffickers), then be exploited by traffickers and held in the country beyond the expiration date, possibly against their will. Trafficking victims coming from EU Member States move legally all over the EU.

 

2. Exploitation: Smuggling of migrants ends with the migrants' arrival at their destination. In a trafficking case, the person is further exploited in coercive or inhuman conditions after crossing the border.

 

3. Transnationality: Smuggling of migrants is always transnational. Trafficking in human beings takes place both across international borders (international trafficking) and within the borders of their own countries (internal trafficking).

 

4. Source of profits: In smuggling cases, profits are derived from the transportation or facilitation of the illegal entry or stay of a person into another county. In trafficking cases, profits are derived from the exploitation.

 

 

 

Source: EU - Trafficking explained