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36 Rev. BDI 413 (2003)
Measures against Smuggling of Migrants at Sea: A Law of the Sea Related Perspective

handle is hein.journals/belgeint36 and id is 415 raw text is: REVUE BELGE DE DROIT INTERNATIONAL 2003/2 - Editions BRUYLANT, Bruxelles MEASURES AGAINST SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS AT SEA: A LAW OF THE SEA RELATED PERSPECTIVE PAR Ximena HINRICHS (*) LEGAL OFFICER, INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE SEA INTRODUCTION Recent years have seen a marked increase in migrant trafficking, an increase that has been stimulated by a variety of factors (1). While on the one hand immigration laws have been tightened and stricter border con- trols imposed (2), the causes leading individuals to migrate such as poverty, war, persecution, violence, environmental disasters, and human rights violations have not been overcome, and the development of a highly lucrative business providing services that facilitate international migration can be traced (3). One should not however lose sight of the fact that migrant trafficking is about the individual men, women and children, who, finding themselves in an extremely vulnerable situation, become the object of a commercial transaction that often endangers their lives and leads to the further violation of their fundamental human rights (4). Migrant trafficking usually involves a chain of crossings by sea, road and air where the journey often culminates in a sea crossing. According to the German weekly Der Spiegel, between mid-February 2001 and mid-April 2002 more than 23,000 refugees on board 465 ships managed to reach the coasts of Europe (5). Traffickers of migrants at sea use creative methods (*) The opinions contained in this article are expressed by the author in her personal capacity and do not reflect the views of the Tribunal. (1) Trafficking in Migrants : IOM Policy and Responses, IOM doc. MC/EX/INF/58 of 10 May 1999, para. 1, p. 1. (2) Ibid., paras. 1-15, pp. 1-3; see Oceans and the Law of the Sea : Report of the Secretary- General, UN General Assembly, 57th Sess., UN doc. A/57/57 of 7 March 2002, paras. 156 and 158, p. 30; see also Oceans and the Law of the Sea : Report of the Secretary -General, UN General Assembly, 56th Sess., UN doc. A/56/58 of 9 March 2001, para. 224, p. 43. (3) It is estimated that trafficking of migrants generates around US$12 billion a year, see Renate FLOTTAU et al., Die Beweise haben Beine, Der Spiegel 25, 17 June 2002, pp. 116-125, at p. 119; see also Report of the Secretary -General, UN doc. A/57/57, supra note 2, para. 157, p. 30. (4) See Report of the Secretary-General, UN doc. A/57/57, supra note 2, para. 158, p. 30. (5) See Klaus BRINKBAUMER et al., H6llenfahrt ins gelobte Land, Der Spiegel 25, 17 June 2002, pp. 130-137, at p. 132.