Hein de Haas: Smuggling is a reaction to border controls, not the cause of migration
►http://heindehaas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/smuggling-is-reaction-to-border.html
Signalé par Elisabeth Vallet
Smuggling is a reaction to border controls, not the cause of migration
The disaster of the sinking of a boat on 3 October off the coast of Lampedusa, which cost the life to hundreds of refugees and migrants, has already led to calls for a ’smuggling crackdown’ among governments and international organisations. Over the past decade, this has been the usual reaction when such tragedies happen on the southern coasts of Europe.
However, such reasoning is turning the causality of things upside down. It is the border controls that have forced migrants to take more dangerous routes and that have made them more and more dependent on smugglers to cross borders. Smuggling is a reaction to border controls rather than a cause of migration in itself. Ironically, further toughening of border controls will therefore force migrants and refugees to take more risks and only increase their reliance on smugglers.
