The trafficking and smuggling of refugees: the end game in European asylum policy?

This report analyses the response of European governments to the increasing problems of human trafficking and smuggling, and concludes that much of existing policy-making is part of the problem and not the solution. Refugees are now forced to use illegal means if they want to access Europe at all. The direction of current policy risks not so much solving the problem of trafficking but rather ending the right of asylum in Europe, one of the most fundamental of all human rights. Any comprehensive approach that tackles trafficking and smuggling successfully requires legal and safe migration opportunities for all refugees, as well as necessary enforcement measures. Europe is in urgent need for political and moral leadership on this issue and it is hoped that the final recommendations contained in this report might stimulate some reflection.