By Paolo Campana

Human smuggling is the facilitation of unlawful cross- border movement. It is primarily a commercial activity, offered as a service to willing, paying customers, and a large- scale market catering to millions seeking to circumvent mobility restrictions. Contrary to prevailing media and political narratives that depict smuggling as dominated by powerful and highly sophisticated criminal organizations, this study documents a fragmented, decentralized market composed of independent, localized actors operating through flexible, often temporary networks. These flexible arrangements, coupled with low barriers to entry, confer resilience and adaptability to the market, making enforcement difficult and resource- intensive. Intensified enforcement often produces unintended consequences, including heightened migrant vulnerability and increased reliance on smugglers. Despite regional differences, smuggling operations exhibit striking structural similarities shaped by local knowledge and monitoring costs. Such enduring structural characteristics exist alongside a growing role played by communication technologies, which are reshaping dynamics between service providers and customers. Ultimately, human smuggling remains a market fraught with paradoxes: Migrants face severe risks yet view smugglers as essential facilitators severe risks yet view smugglers as essential facilitators, while states confront the complex task of balancing border enforcement with humanitarian obligations and protections of vulnerable individuals.

By United Nations EMLER

In the present report, the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement examines how racism is embedded in drug control systems and shapes their impacts on Africans and people of African descent. It begins by exploring the root causes of racial discrimination in drug policy, including the legacies of colonialism, the racialization of drugs, the influence of militarized approaches and the “war on drugs”. The Mechanism then analyses manifestations of racial discrimination across the criminal justice system. Building on this analysis, it examines the intersection of drug policy with other grounds of discrimination, such as gender, highlighting how intersecting forms of discrimination can increase the risk of human rights violations. The Mechanism also identifies factors that exacerbate these harms and concludes by highlighting promising practices and policy approaches aimed at
addressing racial discrimination and advancing more equitable and rights-based drug policies. The present report also includes information on the activities of the Mechanism since its previous report.