By Ahmed Hussain, Ayla Bonfiglio

This report focuses on the nature and dynamics of human smuggling along this Eastern Route from the Horn of Africa across the Red Sea between locations of origin in Ethiopia and points of arrival along the coast of Lahj Governorate in Yemen. It examines the role of smugglers, the services they offer, the financial aspects of the journey, and how migrants perceive their

smugglers. The study is based on 346 surveys with migrants in Lahj, Yemen and 16 with smugglers in Ethiopia.

The Eastern Route is widely regarded as among the most dangerous mixed migration routes originating from the African continent, in terms of migrants' exposure to violence, abuse, and exploitation. This report, based on 346 surveys with migrants in Lahj, Yemen and 16 with smugglers in Ethiopia, focuses on the nature and dynamics of human smuggling along this route between locations of origin in Ethiopia and points of arrival along the coast of Lahj Governorate in Yemen. It examines the role of smugglers, the services they offer, the financial aspects of the journey, and how migrants perceive their smugglers. Additionally, the report delves into the abuses associated with smugglers, migrants’ protection strategies, and the forms of assistance that migrants receive from smugglers. This study was carried out against the backdrop of reduction in recorded migrant arrivals in Yemen, not merely because of the joint military campaign in the Red Sea and anti-smuggling campaigns by Yemeni and Djiboutian coastguards since August 2023, but also owing to decreased access to data collection in key transit locations along this route. The data provide some insight into these dynamics, which is critical to informing the work of humanitarian actors and policymakers, and fundamental for developing interventions that address the vulnerabilities of migrants along this precarious route. The key findings include: • Smugglers played a limited role in influencing respondents’ migration decisions (9%) and route selection (11%) between Ethiopia and coastal departure points in Djibouti or Somalia. Indeed, more than half of the respondents (57%) stated that they were not influenced by anyone in their decision to migrate, indicating that their choice was largely self-motivated rather than driven by persuasion. • Far from being coerced into using smugglers, migrants reported hiring smugglers to make the journey easier (75%) and cheaper (45%), and they were often proactive in initiating contact (85%) themselves. • The vast majority of respondents (95%) employed the services of one smuggler on their journey to Lahj, Yemen. Of these, most (62%) employed them for one part of the journey—likely for the Red Sea crossing. • In contrast to 4Mi data from the Central Mediterranean Route or the Southern Route (towards South Africa), showing smugglers provide a range of services to migrants, the primary service provided by smugglers along this section of the Eastern Route was arranging transit across borders (99%). • On average, 97% of the respondents paid around 300 USD to the smuggler for their services, largely for the sea crossing. With an average of 100,000 migrants crossing annually, this would amount to a smuggling business worth 30 million USD annually, a significant source of income for smugglers operating out of Djibouti. • Over half of surveyed migrants (60%) paid their smuggler in full before starting the journey, which, according to past MMC research, can be a driver of vulnerability, as migrants deplete their resources at the start of the journey and fall victim to smugglers extracting further compensation. • Despite actively seeking to employ smugglers and reporting that smugglers helped them to achieve their migration goal (99%), strikingly, all migrants felt that smugglers intentionally misled them. This finding stands out for its stark contrast with other migration routes, which portray a more mixed picture of misinformation, underscoring the unique and exploitive dynamics of the Eastern Route. • Smugglers were rarely trusted (2%) by migrants as reliable sources of information; with this in mind, few respondents used smugglers as information sources before (12%) and during the journey (28%). • 72% perceived smugglers as perpetrators of abuse in dangerous locations along the route, identifying physical violence (82%), death (68%), and robbery (58%) as the top

dangers. • While smugglers were rarely regarded as trustworthy and were seen as perpetrators of abuse, only 22% of surveyed migrants viewed them as criminals. Indeed, most perceived their smugglers as service providers (64%), highlighting an inherent complexity in migrant-smuggler relationships. The same complexity can be seen in migrants’ strategies for keeping safe along the route: 18% cited hiring smugglers while 1% cited avoiding them to reduce the risk of abuse and crime.

London/Denmark: Mixed Migration Centre, 2024. 24p.

By Human Rights Watch

In December 2024, Saudi Arabia will be awarded the 2034 Men’s World Cup hosting rights, which FIFA has engineered without competition. The tournament is just one of many massive, planned projects requiring immense construction under Vision 2030, such as the $500 billion futuristic NEOM city. “Die First, and I’ll Pay You Later” shows how migrant workers continue to face widespread abuses across employment sectors and geographic regions including exorbitant recruitment fees, wage theft, job immobility, inadequate heat protections and uninvestigated deaths. Saudi authorities promised labor reforms, but the report based on interviews with more than 150 migrant workers and their families shows how Saudi authorities are systematically failing to protect migrant workers and remedy abuses. Migrant workers are the human engine of Saudi Arabia’s massive construction boom. There are 13.4 million migrant workers in the country and planned projects will result in millions more. The report shows how businesses and giga-projects funded by or linked to the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, are among those exploiting and abusing migrant workers. This blatant failure to protect workers creates a near certainty that the 2034 World Cup will come at a large human cost. The report includes recommendations to the governments of Saudi Arabia and migrant origin countries, as well as to relevant international entities including FIFA, sponsors and businesses looking to profit from Saudi Arabia’s mega- and giga-projects.  

New York: Human Rights Watch, 2024. 130p.

By International Organization for Migration Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean San Jose, Costa Rica

The increase in irregular migration in the Central American and Mexican routes has generated an increase in the flow of migrants through dangerous zones, exposing migrants to various risks, from the use of dangerous means of transportation to situations of exploitation, violence and disappearances. In recent years, hundreds of migrants have been reported missing or dead in these zones. Protection services face challenges and limitations in providing comprehensive care to the large number of migrants passing through the region. These risks are increased for vulnerable populations such as unaccompanied minors, women and LGBTIQA+ persons. In response, governments recognize the need to ensure the physical, legal and emotional safety of migrants in transit through the region. This study, developed by the IOM Regional Program on Migration with the support of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the United States Department of State, provides crucial information and lines of action to protect migrants in transit, contributing to the fulfillment of international commitments and the strengthening of coordination among member countries for the assistance and protection of migrants.

International Organization for Migration Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean San Jose, Costa Rica, 2024. 50p.   

By EUROPOL

Migrant smuggling continues to pose a challenge for police forces across the European Union. The criminal networks involved are complex and highly organised, diversifying routes and modus operandi in order to evade detection and increase profits. Meanwhile, migrants themselves are forced to risk their lives on the dangerous and unsafe transports offered by migrant smuggling networks. In this spotlight report, we cover the most important developments in the migrant smuggling landscape. The report details what the main features of modern migrant smuggling networks are, and how these networks administer themselves. It also explains phenomena such as criminal networks operating together in ‘joint ventures’, where illicit actors cooperate at various stages in the migrant smuggling chain.

Europol Spotlight Report series. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2023. 10p.

By The Mixed Migration Centre

This paper set out to explore experiences of abuse or exploitation among Nigerians during their migration journey, and how use of social media relates to a sense of increased risk or protection. In doing so it examines factors of gender, preferred destination and particularly smuggler use.

This paper is based on 423 quantitative interviews carried out with Nigerian refugees and migrants on the move through West and North Africa who had used social media during their migration journey. The quantitative data is complemented by insights from qualitative interviews on the use of social media conducted in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in August 2022 with a range of key informants including smugglers and travel facilitators, migrants, and experts from a range of civil society organizations, NGOs and international organizations.

Mixed Migration Centre, 2023. 11p.

By Mark Olden

Every year an estimated 5,000 migrant seasonal workers come to Sweden to do the back-breaking work of clearing landscapes and planting trees. They make up 85 – 90 per cent of the workforce and are employed by firms sub-contracted by the companies that dominate Sweden’s forest sector. "Duped” sheds a light on the endemic mistreatment they face. From earning less than promised, to being employed under unlawful terms. From working in poor conditions to being overcharged for their accommodation: the evidence is consistent and overwhelming. It contains testimonies from migrant workers, a union, investigative journalists and a small forest owner - stories of exploitation and harm that challenge the claim that such forestry is sustainable. This briefing shows that this exploitation is rooted in the economic logic which underpins the Swedish forestry model, and which is also driving nature destruction.

Bruxelles Belgium: FERN, 2023. 18p.