Friedrich Heckmann

Introduction

Experts agree that most irregular migration in the modern world is done through different forms of human smuggling and that human smuggling is a business. Little is known, however, in a systematic way, about the organization of the smuggling process. The idea of an internationally operating, highly organized and centralized, pyramid-like mafia organization that does not only trade in migrants, but also with prostitutes, weapons and drugs is very popular.

Conceptual terms that are used for the analysis of the smuggling process imply a variety of theoretical ideas: "migration merchants", "large and well-organized trans-national criminal organizations", "mom-and-pop operators" or "smuggling industry" are some of these (Kyle and Koslowski 2001). What we find in these terms are implicit ideas about the social organization of the smuggling process. I want to make these implicit ideas more explicit and will test them on the basis of an empirical research project at the European forum for migration studiesthat has been completed in 2006.

This project has been conducting 20 expert interviews and analyses 51 court cases of human smuggling on the basis of police investigation and court proceedings. This is easily said, but involved an enormous amount of work that our researcher Matthias Neske has done, who is both a social scientist and a former police man. On the basis of the expert interviews and the literature a set of dimensions was developed to analyze the material. The goal was to arrive at types of human smuggling and thus to test the assumptions of the “Mafia hypothesis".

Among the variables that were analyzed in the 51 court cases we should mention the following: nationality, education and socio-economic status of smugglers; reconstruction of positions, functions and roles in the smuggling process; ethnic belonging; of smugglers; mobilization and motivation of persons smuggled; ethnic composition of smuggled groups, forms of traveling, means of transportation; distances to be covered; forms of border crossing; financial relations and transactions among smuggled and smugglers.

The goal of the analysis was to form types of human smuggling through identifying common sets of variables between the 51 court cases. We arrived at three basic types. The first is "Assisting Smuggling".

Assisting Smuggling

In this type, which we found in 15 court cases from the Czech-German border, smuggling is a support function for illegal migration that the migrants have largely organized for themselves, but depend at certain intervals and locations ("hubs") oil help from others (cf. figure 1). Typically, the migrant could travel on his own, say from Rumania to Prague, and then look on a "smugglers market" for a smuggler who would lead him personally across the border to Germany, or lead him to the green border and tell him how to cross it. A smugglers' market is a location where smugglers offer their services, like in a railway station or an ethnic cafe.

Both for the smuggled and the smugglers this type of illegal migration is poverty driven and does not involve large amounts of money. The method of payment is usually through cash.

In terms of social organization the relations between smuggler and smuggled migrant are constituted through a market type of relation and form of exchange.

Are there any special characteristics of this form of market versus "more normal" markets?. Market is an exchange process that is based on the interest of the actors. But we know that market exchange processes, are not based on interest alone, but require certain rules that help to minimize risks involved in the exchange. These rules, on the one hand, could be given in the form of` market regulations, and on the other, by a system of market morals and of mutual trust. The particular risks in a smugglers' market are constituted by a lack of such rules and by the fact that the exchange usually is a single exchange which gives the buyer hardly any sanctioning power. He could only inform other potential migrants about the case, but it would be difficult for them to use this information. Thus the smug1lers' market with an exchange of a limited and short term service is a market with high risks involved for the "customers" and a high probability of the migrant being cheated.

We have evidence for this in court records of our material; there is also evidence for this from the US. The actions of certain Pateros", i.e. single smugglers at the Mexican-Texas border, can be given as an example. "This type of smuggler can frequently be found loitering around international in addition to the bus stations of Mexican border cities. Migrants who are unaware of the realities of the journey they have undertaken are often victimized by these smugglers, who take their money in advance, lead them across the river, and abandon them to their fate once they are on the Texas side. This fate usually includes quick apprehension by the Border Patrol and often includes assault and worse by bandits who lurk in the darkness near the river on the US side" (Spencer, 2001, 135).

Figure 1. Type I: Assisting Smugglin

Visa Smuggling

This is a case of smuggling that has recently received a lot of attention in relation to the so called "Visa Affaire" in Germany. In conventional forms of thinking this may not be called a form of smuggling, but if smuggling is assistance to forms of illegal migration, then this is smuggling. People travel across borders with legal documents, but they have received the documents or visa through illegal services and with the support of paid illegal services. There are four court cases of this kind in our material and the cases involve thousands of smuggled people.

The organization necessary consists of a coordinator in the country of origin - individual person, or small network, or small travel agency – and a similar structure in the country of destination (cf.figure2). Conditions in the country of origin are such that for political reasons a generous visa practice has been recommended by the authorities of the country of destination for the consulates or embassies in the emigration country.

Figure 2. Type II: Visa Smuggling

The smugglers in the country of destination provide their partners in the country of origin with documents that entitle the holder to apply for a legal visa to the country of destination. Through different kinds of illegal practices the smugglers make available invitations for private visits, with declarations of sponsorship in case of emergency and insurance papers; they also make up business invitations and through fraud and deception get hold of hotel reservations and other documents that seemingly will be used for touristic travel.
These documents are sent to the smuggling partner in the country of origin, where he sells the documents to customers. These then will go to the embassies and consulates, who quite often are overworked and don't have much time to check the documents. Other documents, like insurances or income statements that travelers need can sometimes - like in the Ukrainian case - be substituted for by documents that often can be bought on the market.

Since for the smugglers it is enough to provide documents, the provision of logistics over long distances is not needed and a large "Mafia" organization is not necessary. A network of two individuals or small organizing unit is enough for the purpose.

The relation between customer and provider of smuggling services again is constituted in a market situation. The risk for the customer consists of e possibly bad quality of the documents provided and thus not getting the visa,  and of loosing a substantial amount of money that has to be paid in cash and before a success of the journey. On the other hand, the smuggler in the country of origin has to act rather in public, is dependent on satisfied customers for the keeping up and possibly expansion of his business and thus is under a certain social control.

On the side of the customers visa smuggling requires quite some money, and in this way is different from the form of poverty smuggling of the first type. It is, of course, also, a much more comfortable form of traveling after having received the legal visa.

On the side of the smugglers the qualifications required are quite different from the first type of foot smuggler as well. They have to know languages and must have relations abroad, must have an understanding of legal procedures  and bureaucracies, and be able to communicate well with different kinds of persons and institutions.

Smuggling networks or chain smuggling

This is by far the most frequent type of smuggling operations found in our court cases (n = 27). About the main characteristics of chain smuggling (cf. figure 3):

Figure 3. Type III: Chain Smuggling

There isa network operating over long distances. It consists of three levels of actors or units:

• There are initiating and organizing individuals who are the entrepreneurial part of the network (who cannot always be identified):
  • mobilizing coordinators.
  • inserting coordinators.
• There are hub coordinators along the migration route. They need the support of.
• Local smugglers (individuals or networks).

How can the relations in the network be characterized? Since human smuggling in present times almost exclusively is a business the relations between entrepreneur and "helpers" are characterized by mutual economic interest. Additionally the relation between the network coordinators and the hub coordinators we found are almost exclusively characterized by a common ethnicity. Common ethnicity eases communication and mutual trust and thus stabilizes the network.

Despite ethnic and sometimes kin relations the smugglers network is one of high asymmetry. The entrepreneurial core person(s) (are) clearly dominating and profiting most from the network.

The local smugglers normally are recruited among native local people. They have no knowledge of the network with the exception of the hub coordinator.

Conclusion

We have found three basic types in our 51 cases: assisting smuggling, visa smuggling and network or chain smuggling. All three clearly represent a different form of social organisation than a pyramid like hierarchical Mafia organisation. Both in the 20 expert interviews and the 51 court cases we found no evidence for the Mafia hypothesis.

References
Kyle D. / Koslowski R. (eds.), (2001). Global Human Smuggling. Comparative Perspectives, John Hopkins University Press Baltimore, London.

Spener D. (2001 ). Smuggling Migrants through South Texas: Challenges Posed by Operation Rio Grande, in: Kyle D. / Koslowski R, pp. 129-165.