Migrant smuggling poses complex challenges for countries worldwide, necessitating comprehensive approaches that encompass legal, policy, and institutional dimensions. In the Western Balkan (hereafter ‘WB’) region, situated at a crossroads of migratory routes, addressing the phenomenon of migrant smuggling is of paramount importance. This paper undertakes an in-depth analysis of the legal, policy, and institutional frameworks pertaining to migrant smuggling in the Western Balkans, aiming to provide valuable insights for policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and stakeholders involved in combating this illicit activity.
The WB region has witnessed significant migratory flows in recent years, driven by various factors such as conflict, economic hardship, and geopolitical instability. In response, governments have grappled with the challenges posed by migrant smuggling, striving to develop robust frameworks to prevent, detect, and prosecute perpetrators while safeguarding the rights of migrants. According to Frontex data, the WB route has remained the most active migratory route into the EU. In the second half of 2019 the pressure from the region northwards focused on the EU borders with Serbia. Detections on this route grew by 158% compared to 2018. According to Europol, most migrant smuggling cases in 2019 concerned the WB region. Despite the increasing number of COVID-19 cases (and consequently coronavirus restrictions) in the region, the mixed movements through same routes continued in 2020. Moreover, the data indicate that the WB route became the most active migratory route in June 2020 with 2,050 detections of illegal border crossings, 70% more than in May and nearly three-times the figure from a year ago. In the first half of this year, almost 9,300 migrants were detected at EU’s border in the region, 73% more than in the first six months of 2019.3 UNHCR reported that 88% newly arrived migrants entered Serbia from North Macedonia and 10% from Albania.
Migration pressure in the Western Balkans remains high, as well as the demand for facilitation services. Both opportunistic smugglers and sophisticated OCGs are active in the WB region, concentrating their criminal business on areas with a high concentration of irregular migrants. (Source: Europol). Frontex in its reports stresses the concern that criminal networks that facilitate irregular entries will try to maximize their profits by getting involved in various criminal activities, using available criminal infrastructure and business models. (Source: Frontex ARA 2022/2023).
The issue of irregular migration and smuggling of migrants is primarily treated by the states as a matter of security, and only afterwards as a matter of protecting the rights of victims of migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings. For these reasons, some of the challenges that refugees and migrants face in preventing smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings, are efficient border security and management – as basic preconditions for the prevention and suppression of cross-border crime.