SMUGGLING AND TRAFFICKING OF MIGRANTS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE Criminal Actors, Dynamics and Migration Policies

The book provides an updated, informative and theoretical “picture” of migrant smuggling and trafficking in Southern Europe, focusing on Spain, Italy and Greece. The first chapter sets out the research questions, the methodology followed, the sources consulted, and makes a preliminary distinction between smuggling and trafficking. The second analyses the different theoretical perspectives on smuggling. The third examines how smugglers organise migrants’ journeys before they reach Southern Europe. The fourth examines the role of foreign and national criminal players involved in migrant trafficking in host countries. The focus is on sexual and labour exploitation. The last chapter sheds light on why smuggling and human trafficking persist in Southern Europe. It considers the role of laws in countering irregular immigration and structural economic factors related to the post-Fordist economy. Spain, Italy and Greece face a contradiction: migration policies seeking to combat irregular immigration for security and political purposes conflict with the southern countries’ need for a migrant workforce to be employed in their production systems. Against this background, transnational criminal groups increase their smuggling and trafficking of migrants.