Migrant Smuggling in Southeast Asia
The following are extracts from the UNODC Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants, Migration Smuggling in Southeast Asia (Vienna, UNODC, 2024): www.unodc.org
Migrant smuggling in Southeast Asia is determined by three key trends. The first is the confluence of: aspirations for migration in countries of origin, such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Cambodia; demand for low-wage labour in countries of destination like Thailand and Malaysia; and limited and expensive legal channels for safe and regular labour immigration to match up these needs. The second is the existence of substantial populations in the region, particularly people from Myanmar, in situations of forced displacement and/or statelessness, who are seeking international protection and have limited legal channels to do so. The third is the prevalence of corruption among certain public officials in countries of origin, transit and destination, which acts as a driver and enabler of migrant smuggling, as well as contributing to impunity for perpetrators.
These trends characterize the features of migrant smuggling in the region, driving demand for migrant smuggling among migrants and refugees and leading them to seek out smugglers in person and by phone (rarely on social media) to request their services, rather than smugglers actively recruiting clients.
Because of the lack of regular channels for labour migration, employers are frequently involved in organizing smuggling for prospective employees, with serious consequences for those employees’ vulnerability to forced labour, human trafficking and other abuses.
Refugees from countries like Myanmar (particularly Rohingya people), Afghanistan and Somalia often lack travel and identity documents. They face a lack of prospects for stability, safety and economic and educational opportunities in their countries of origin or in countries of first displacement (e.g., Bangladesh, I.R. Iran, Ethiopia). Climate-related factors also exacerbate the situation. Therefore, smugglers may be their only option, or the least bad option, to achieve a sustainable solution and be granted international protection. The link between smuggling and labour migration is, furthermore, also relevant for refugees, who commonly seek opportunities for income generation in low-wage sectors.
So, the smuggling industry fills a market niche to supply the demand for mobility outside of regular channels, for a profit, in a region with a vast and diverse geography. Smugglers transport people across long and remote land borders on various different types of vehicles, as well as on foot, and on multiple smaller and larger vessels across the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman Sea, the Gulf of Thailand, and between Malaysia and the many islands of Indonesia. Smugglers from countries of origin outside the region collaborate with smugglers in the region to organize smuggling by air, using forged and fraudulent documents.
Smuggling of migrants is made possible in Southeast Asia, as in other world regions, by corrupt practices. Public officials share in smuggling profits; are bribed to ensure compliance; and obstruct criminal investigations. But corruption also acts as a driver of demand for smuggling, as migrants and refugees perceive that they need smugglers to manage requests for bribery and other abuses by public officials during the journey.
Actors in the smuggling industry range from multi-service brokers, employers and smuggling organizations offering full travel packages, to lower-level actors operating only at individual border crossing points.
While smuggled migrants and refugees are vulnerable to victimization by other crime groups active in the region in crimes such as drug trafficking and human trafficking, the research did not indicate that smuggling actors are linked to these groups.
Individual smuggling fees, ranging from 100s to 1,000s of US dollars, are rarely traceable as they are received mostly in cash or through informal money transfer systems.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are important origin and destination countries for smuggling of migrants within and outside Southeast Asia, and key transit hubs for smuggling in the region and globally.1 The UNODC Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants carried out quantitative and qualitative field research during 2022-2023 on migrant smuggling from, through and to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, in partnership with the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) (for more details, see section 7 – Methodology below).
This StoryMap analyses smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air within Southeast Asia, with a focus on Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) and Viet Nam as major origin countries; and from outside the region: Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Somalia. The analysis sets out key findings on migrant smuggling routes, drivers of smuggling, smugglers and their modi operandi, smuggling fees and abuses perpetrated against smuggled people. The full version of the StoryMap, including interactive maps and case studies of smuggled people interviewed for this research, is available online at: www.unodc.org/unodc/es/data-and-analysis/som-observatory.html
Special Points of Interest on Migrant Smuggling in Southeast Asia
- Tens of thousands of people from Myanmar, from other parts of Southeast Asia and from outside the region are smuggled to, through and from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand every year.
- Of 4,785 migrants and refugees surveyed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand for this research, 83% said they were smuggled.
- Demand for migrant smuggling among refugees and migrants is driven by a perception of lack of opportunities for regular migration in contexts of:
- conflict, violence and persecution;
- statelessness and lack of travel and identity documents;
- limited access to regular migration channels to apply for international protection and for labour migration; and
- corruption.
- People also reported that they approached smugglers because they think smuggling will be easier than regular migration or independent irregular migration.
- Among smuggled people surveyed, almost half (48%) stated that they would have taken the journey anyway, knowing what they did now about the conditions, 40% said that they would not have and 12% were undecided.
- Corruption is a major enabler of migrant smuggling. One in four smuggled people surveyed had to give officials a gift, money or a favour in exchange for a service. Corruption in this context mainly consists of:
a) collusion between smugglers and corrupt officials; and
b) payments of bribes to corrupt officials by smugglers or smuggled people. - Corruption is also a driver of demand for smuggling, as smuggled people perceive – whether accurately or not – that they need smugglers and brokers to deal with state authorities, because of corruption. Twenty-eight percent of smuggled people surveyed for this research reported that smugglers assisted them in dealing with authorities.
- Climate-related issues influenced the decision to migrate for one in four smuggled people surveyed and are particularly relevant for smuggled Bangladeshis.
- Smuggled people surveyed generally interacted with smugglers they perceived as individual actors (65%) or loosely structured groups (13%). The research also found indications of higher levels of smuggler organization (perceived by 8% of smuggled people surveyed), particularly among smugglers operating from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Malaysia and Indonesia.
- In most cases, the person to be smuggled or their family and friends initiate contact with smugglers (69%). Smugglers actively approached people intending to migrate in less than one-third of cases (31%).
- Three percent of smuggled people surveyed said they felt pressured by smugglers to use their services.
- Social media is rarely the first point of contact with smugglers. Eighty-seven per cent of people seeking smuggling services contacted the smuggler by phone or in person, and only 13% via social media.
- Rohingya people who are already displaced in Bangladesh are smuggled by sea directly to Malaysia or are first smuggled by sea back to Myanmar, for onward smuggling by sea or land to Malaysia. Bangladeshis are sometimes smuggled to Malaysia along the same routes as Rohingya people.
- Migrant smuggling from outside Southeast Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Somalia) usually begins by air on commercial carriers and generally involves forged or fraudulent travel and/or identity documents. Almost one third of smuggled people surveyed were provided with forged or fraudulent travel or identity documents by smugglers.
- Though a wide range of fees was cited (from US$19 to $6,650), smuggled people surveyed paid an average of the equivalent of $2,380 in smuggling fees, in cash, by bank transfer and, in the case of some Afghans, partly through hawala.
- Smuggled migrants and refugees surveyed perceive military and police, smugglers, and to a lesser extent border guards and criminal gangs, as likely to perpetrate abuses during the journey. These include: physical violence; asking for bribes; extortion; unlawful killing; and sexual violence. Three out of four smuggled people surveyed experienced some form of abuse during their journeys. This is particularly prevalent among Somalis, Cambodians and people from Myanmar.
- People smuggled to, within, and from Southeast Asia are subjected to forced labour and trafficking for forced labour, perpetrated by smugglers and by employers with or without connections to the smugglers. When smuggling is linked to the brokering of jobs, as is often the case for Rohingya and Chin people from Myanmar, as well as for Indonesians, Cambodians and Laotians, risks of debt bondage and trafficking are high.