1. European Measures to Counter Human Trafficking/Smuggling
By Gabriele Masetti
1. Background and Scope of the Phenomenon
The EuropeanAgencyforthe Managementof Operational Cooperationatthe External Bordersof the
MemberStatesof the Union(Frontex) estimatedthatin2015 the revenue of peoplesmuggling
networkswasabout4 billionEuros,or roughly$ 4,5 billion.1
In additiontotravel arrangements,illicitsmugglingnetworksprovide withinformationaboutthe
differentasylumprocessesof the variouscountries,aswell asforgeddocuments.2
The highestdemand
isfor Syrianpassports,identificationcards,birthcertificatesandresidence permits.3
Evidence collectedbyFrontex alsopointstotwodistincttypesof servicesofferedtoimmigrants:the
first,cheaper,inovercrowdedandpoorlymaintainedrubber-boats,thatthe smugglersthemselvesdon’t
participate in;andthe second,more expensive –upto 10.000 euro4
– involvingyachts,whichthe
smugglersthemselvesoperateandprotect.Infact smugglershave reportedlybeeninvolvedinseveral
shootingincidentsandresistedarrestbyEuropeanauthorities.5
In 2015 more than a millionimmigrantsarrived inGreece andItaly.The EasternMediterraneanroute
usedTurkeyas the central logistical huband mostlyservedSyrians,Afghans,Pakistani,Bangladeshi and
Iraqi and. The Central MediterraneanRoute usedLibyaasthe central logistical hubandmostlyserved
migrantsfromthe Horn of Africaand WestAfrica.6
Frontex highlightsthe role playedbysocial mediasuchaFacebook,WhatsAppandViberasthe principal
tool utilizedbysmugglingnetworkstoadvertise theiractivitiesandmigrantsthemselvestoprovide tips
and reviews.Mostof the social mediaactivityisreportedtobe carriedoutby SyriansinArabic,posing
as Turkey-basedtravel agencies.7
2. The EuropeanFramework of Action
1
Frontex, Profiting from misery – how smugglers bring people to Europe, February 18, 2016, at
http://frontex.europa.eu/feature-stories/profiting-from-misery-how-smugglers-bring-people-to-europe-tQtYUH.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Oli Smith, Smugglers selling Pounds 3,000 Tickets to Europe after advertising them to migrants on Facebook, the Express on
April 1, 2016 at http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/657569/Smugglers -TICKETS-Europe-advertised-Italy-Facebook,
mentions the use of commercial ships and the price tag of 3000 pounds, or approximately $4000.
5 Frontex, Profiting from misery – how smugglers bring people to Europe, February 18, 2016.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.

2. Traffickinginhumanbeings(THB) isprohibitedunderthe Charterof Fundamental Rightsof the
EuropeanUnion8
,andis listedasa crime underArticle 83 of the Treaty on the Functioningof the
EuropeanUnion.9
The frameworkof the EU legislationaimedataddressingtraffickinginhumanbeingsincorporatesrules
and principlesincludedinthe EuropeanAgendaonMigration,10
the EuropeanAgendaonSecurity,11
the
EU ActionPlanagainstmigrantsmuggling2015-2020,12
the ActionPlanonHuman RightsandDemocracy
2015-2029,13
the newframeworkforthe EU’s activitiesongenderequalityandwomen’sempowerment
inEU’s external relationsfor2016-2020,14
and the Strategicengagementof the EU for genderequality
2016-2019.15
More specifically,in2011 the EuropeanCommission’sAnti-traffickingDirective wasadopted16
and
followedbyanimplementationpolicycoveringthe period2012-2016.17
The new actionplaninvolved
the appointmentof anEU Anti-TraffickingCoordinator(ATC).18
The statisticsconcerninghuman
traffickinginthe EU for the period2010-2012 were releasedin2015 byEurostat, the official statistics
organ of the EuropeanCommission.19
In 2016, the EuropeanCommissionpublisheditsfirstanti-traffickingreport.20
Basedondataprovidedby
each memberstate,the reportfoundthatamongthe 15.846 victimsofficiallyregisteredin2013-2014,
67 percentwere sexuallyexploited and21 percentwere exploitedforlabor.Womenrepresented76
8 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT&from=EN.
9 “The EuropeanParliament andthe Council may, bymeans ofdirectives adoptedin accordance with the ordinary legislative
procedure, establish minimumrules concerning the definitionof criminal offencesand sanctions in the areas of particularly
serious crime with a cross-border dimensionresulting fromthe nature or impact of such offences or from a special need to
combat them ona commonbasis. These areas of crime are the following:terrorism, trafficking in human beings and sexual
exploitation ofwomen and children, illicit drug trafficking, illicit arms trafficking, moneylaundering, corruption, counterfeiting
of means of payment, computer crime and organized crime.” At http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT&from=EN.
10http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/background-
information/docs/communication_on_the_european_agenda_on_migration_en.pdf.
11 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/documents/basic-documents/docs/eu_agenda_on_security_en.pdf.
12http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-
library/documents/policies/asylum/general/docs/eu_action_plan_against_migrant_smuggling_en.pdf.
13https://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/joint_communication_on_human_rights_and_democracy_en.pdf.
14 http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/staff-working-document-gender-2016-2020-20150922_en.pdf.
15 https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/strategic_engagement_for_gender_equality_en.pdf.
16 Directive 2011/36/EU onpreventing and combatingtraffickinginhumanbeings and protecting its victims, and replacing
Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA, at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32011L0036&from=IT.
17 EuropeanCommission, EU StrategyTowards the Eradicationof Trafficking inHumanBeings, at https://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/eu_strategy_towards_the_eradication_of_trafficking_in_human_beings_2012-2016_1.pdf.
18 Myria Vassiliadou was appointed in2011 as the EU Anti-TraffickingCoordinator withfor the EuropeanCommission. For
additional information see https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/eu-anti-trafficking-coordinator_en.
19 Eurostat, Trafficking in Human Beings, 2015 edition, at https://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/eurostat_report_on_trafficking_in_human_bein gs_-_2015_edition.pdf.
20 European Commission, First Report on the Progress made in the Fight Against Trafficking in Human Beings, at
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-and-human-trafficking/trafficking-in-human-
beings/docs/commission_report_on_the_progress_made_in_the_fight_against_trafficking_in_human_beings_2016_en.pdf .

3. percentof the cases,and 95 percentof the sexuallyexploitedvictims.Conversely,menrepresented74
percentforthe victimsexploitedforlaborpurposes.21
65 percentof the officiallyregisteredvictimsin
the two-yearperiodwere citizensof EuropeanUnioncountries,withBulgaria,Hungary,the
Netherlands,PolandandRomania asthe topcountriesof citizenship.Conversely Albania,China,
Morocco, NigeriaandVietnamwhere the topnon-EUcountries of originof the recorded victims.22
The report highlightedsevenemergingthreatsinthe EuropeanUnion:(1) organizedcrime andthe
internet;(2) exploitationof personswithdisabilities;(3) forcedcriminalityandforcedbegging;(4) forced
marriagesandsham marriages;(5) NigerianwomenandgirlsarrivingfromLibya;(6) childtrafficking;
and (7) traffickinginthe contextof migrationandasylum.23
Alsohighlightedwasthe factthat - to date -
the numberof investigationsandprosecutionsontraffickinginhumanbeingsinmemberstatesremain
overall low,thatvictimsof humantrafficking are prosecutedandconvictedthemselves,24
andthat
financial investigationsare notbeingsystematicallyemployedaseffective investigative tools.25
The
National Referral Mechanisms(NRM) system- mandatedtoproperlyidentifypotentialvictimsof human
trafficking-26
wasfoundnotfullyimplementedatthe national level andnotalwaysare properly
monitoredandevaluatedincooperationwithcivil societyandacademia.27
Similarly,the provisionsof
criminalizationof those utilizingthe servicesof victimsof trafficking –includingemployerswillingly
usingthe servicesof illegally-stayingthird-countrynationals andindividualsusingvictimsof child
pornography - have onlybeenpartiallyimplemented.28
By the endof 2016, the Commissionisexpectedtopropose the nextfive-yearstrategyontraffickingin
humanbeings.29
21 European Commission, First Anti-trafficking Report, at https://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/factsheet_commission_report_en.pdf.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid.
24 A phenomenon referred to as “secondary victimization”.
25 European Commission, First Anti-trafficking Report, at https://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/factsheet_commission_report_en.pdf.
26 See Council of the European Union, Councilconclusions onthe new EU Strategytowards the Eradication of Trafficking in
Human Beings 2012-2016, 3195th Justice and Home Affairs Council Meeting, Luxembourg, October 25, 2012, at
http://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/council_conclusions_on_the_new_eu_strategy_towards_the_eradication_of_trafficking_in
_human_beings_2012_-_2016_1.pdf.
27 OnlyBelgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, CzechRepublic, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Spain andthe United Kingdom have formalized their NRMs. Austria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Sweden have not.
28 EuropeanCommission, First Anti-trafficking Report, at https://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/factsheet_commission_report_en.pdf. See also Directive 2009/52/ECof the European
Parliament andof the Council ofJune 18, 2009 providingfor minimum standards onsanctions and measuresagainst employers
of illegallystaying third-countrynationals, at http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:168:0024:0032:EN:PDF andDirective 2001/92/EU of the European
Parliament andof the Council of13 December 2011 on combatingthe sexual abuse and sexual exploitationof childrenand
childpornography, andreplacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA, at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32011L0093&from=EN.
29 Ibid.