Human Smuggling and Trafficing

The smuggling and trafficking of persons are distinct crimes, but closely linked. Human or migrant smuggling involves the illegal movement of willing and thus complicit persons over an international border. Trafficking of persons does not necessarily involve the crossing of an international border and, unlike human smuggling, involves an element of force, coercion or fraud; people being trafficked are the victims, rather than complicit in the crime. Should a person be smuggled into a country they can become a victim of trafficking through subsequent exploitation. 

The trafficking or smuggling of illegal migrants along maritime routes often involves the use of unsafe and crowded vessels, which drastically increases the risk of an incident at sea. Guidance from the IMO is that the shipping industry should be ready to provide all possible assistance to persons in distress at sea, so that they can be rescued and receive fair treatment once safely ashore. 

Summary

• A complex range of maritime security issues in Africa’s Western seaboard creates direct and indirect threats to the safety of seafarers.
• Important all forms of regional maritime crime in the region are addressed to ensure the safety and security of seafarers.
• Guidance focuses on maritime crime that causes a direct threat to seafarers, in particular armed (and unarmed) robbery, including cargo theft, hijacking of vessels and kidnapping.
• Maritime crime in the region which indirectly affects the mariner includes the trafficking of firearms, humans and narcotics, migrant smuggling and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The consequences of failing to follow maritime security guidelines are potentially severe. The violence experienced by seafarers during incidents of armed robbery and piracy in West Africa, particularly the Gulf of Guinea, is consistently more extreme than in other parts of the world.