Human Trafficking vs. Human Smuggling: The A’s, B’s and C’s

by Mary-Sanyu Osire

A quick scan through the local dailies raises concern about the degree of confusion that surrounds the meaning of these two terms. There is a clear need for conceptual clarity of these terms, in line with recognized international definitions.

The United Nations (UN) Palermo Protocols are two protocols that all journalists who report on human trafficking and human smuggling should be well acquainted with. They are sometimes erroneously referred to individually as “the Palermo Protocol”. Following a high-level political conference that was convened on 15 November 2000 in Palermo (Southern Italy), these protocols were born.

The two Palermo Protocols are:
• the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children; and
• the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air;

These protocols were adopted alongside the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which is a UN-sponsored multilateral treaty against transnational organized crime.

Defining human trafficking

According to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children:

“Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs; The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used; The recruitment, transportation, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purposes of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article; “Child” shall mean any persons under 18 years of age.

The three key elements to note in this definition are i) the Action, ii) the Means and iii) the Purpose. These three elements must be working in tandem for trafficking in persons to have occurred. The only exception to this rule is when children are the victims of human trafficking – in their case, only the action and the purpose need be present for it to be recognized as human trafficking.

Defining human smuggling

In this picture, victims of human smuggling are intercepted along the Southern border of the United States of America. Photo credit/Wordpress

According to the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, human smuggling can be defined as:

 “The procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident”;

 “Crossing borders without complying with the necessary requirements for legal entry into the receiving State”.

Conclusion

There are many distinct differences between these two terms. Take for example, whereas human trafficking is a crime against individuals, human smuggling is a crime against states. Furthermore, whereas trafficking often involves coercion and deception, smuggling is often voluntary.

In some instances, some cases are more complicated than others, and owing to the factors at play, an individual could easily move from being a victim of smuggling to being a victim of trafficking. We ought to pay specific attention to these nitty-gritties as we report on human trafficking and human smuggling.

In as much the Palermo Protocols have been criticized for among other things not having provisions for intra-state trafficking, they can still prove a very useful reference tool for journalists who report on human trafficking and human smuggling. For the purpose of drawing comparisons, it may also interest one to study other frameworks like the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (Optional Protocol).



The author is a humanitarian analyst and she writes on migration. Email her on: msanyu@yahoo.com