Too Many Loopholes: Smuggling Human Beings in Southern Africa
What can be done to decrease the incidence of human smuggling in Southern Africa?
Erin Torkelson, Researcher, Organised Crime and Money Laundering Programme, ISS Cape Town Office
Human
migration in Africa has a long and complex history, and predates the drawing of
national boundaries and the formation of the state. Migration has always been a
survival strategy in response to social, economic and environmental necessity.
Only with the hardening of borders has migration been considered a crime, in
turn making human smuggling a profitable criminal economy. Given the uneven
geographical development of Africa, smuggling routes have been formed from the
horn of Africa to Southern regions, with workers traveling long distances in
search of economic opportunity. Interestingly, international examples show that
punitive consequences do not lessen the incidence and impact of illegal
migration. Rather, addressing unequal political and economic development, partly
through regional integration plans, may
go further to stem the flow of undocumented migrants.
Perhaps
because of the history of internal migration on the continent, there is some
confusion in the literature about what actually constitutes human smuggling, as
it is often conflated with human trafficking. Generally speaking, the difference
between the two categories can be attributed to the motives of the central
actors: a smuggled person knowingly commits an offence by violating national boundaries,
whereas a trafficked person is deceived and may be exploited. Unlike smuggling,
in the case of trafficking, an offence is committed not only against the state,
but also against the individual. While there is much debate about the
prevalence and significance of human trafficking in Africa, it is clear that
human smuggling is very common.
According
to an ISS study, Effective Responses to
Organised Crime, almost 2000 people from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia
destined for South Africa were held in custody in Tanzania in 2009. Information
from the same study showed that human smugglers profit from Tanzania’s
strategic position as a peaceful and stable country, with access to waterways,
roads and railways. Smuggling bosses, facilitating agents, bush guides, drivers
and fraudsters all work in large amorphous networks to transport migrants through
the country and to South Africa over an 8 – 15 week period. Migrants can be
unsheltered for days or weeks, transported under unsafe circumstances, dumped
in geographically challenging areas and led into dangerous situations where
they suffer financial exploitation and abuse by bandits, highwaymen, or even
corrupt state officers. An unpublished report on human smuggling in Tanzania
suggests that police officers are key members of smuggling networks, collecting
bribes from cargo trucks at roadblocks, and assisting smugglers in crossing
borders.
At
the same time, it is important to point out that not all human smuggling results
in the secondary victimisation of illegal migrants. One Malawian migrant
interviewed by the author of this article laughed about how easy it was to come
in and out of South Africa, even after being deported. He had lived and worked
in South Africa for several years, before being sent to Pollsmoor prison for a
violation of his visa conditions. One month later, he was deported to Malawi,
and two weeks after that, he was back in South Africa with a new passport and a
false identity. According to this migrant, “In Malawi, at Home Affairs, they do
not even charge extra for false paperwork.” This suggests that the fabrication
of information and the exportation of labour are not actively prohibited by the
Malawian state, as remittances prop up the local economy. The Malawian migrant
has come to South Africa on three different occasions with three different
names, and follows roughly the same procedure each time. He takes the bus
through Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and at the border points, the passports of all
passengers are collected as a group and stamped by customs officials. Without
fingerprinting technology, there is no way of linking any particular passenger to
a recent deportation.
Clearly, there are many loopholes
militating against the management of human smuggling in Southern Africa. It appears that one of the most promising ways to
limit illegal migration in the future may be to legalize the free movement of
labour simultaneously with regional economic integration of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC). While this may seem counter-intuitive,
international examples have shown that rigid migration policies may actually
increase the vulnerability of workers and exacerbate human smuggling. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a good example of
this. While the tri-lateral agreement opened markets across North America, it
ignored the impact of free trade policies on workers from Canada, Mexico and
the USA. After a
decade and a half, the opening of Mexican markets to highly subsidised
agribusiness in the North displaced millions of peasants and agricultural
workers and sparked what might have been the largest illegal migration of
workers in history. Displaced agricultural labour travelled North to
US-run factories or maquiladoras in
Mexico, and after the local demand was met, continued across the border,
looking for work in the US and Canada. This has resulted in a situation
where the price of labour remains highly unequal, illegal
migration continues unabated and the benefits of NAFTA accrue to the strongest
regional economies.
As far back as 2003 SADC’s Regional
Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) laid out a road map for the
formation of a free trade area (by 2008), the establishment of a customs union
(by 2010) and the creation of a common market (by 2015). While some of the
early targets have not been met, member states have made considerable progress
toward integration, by harmonising economic policies and regulatory frameworks.
Recognising that the success of any common market, not only depends on the free
movement of goods across borders, but also the free movement of labour, the
RISDP specifically aims to establish “appropriate mechanisms and frameworks for an equitable,
smooth and sustainable movement of labour within the region.” While some of the
stronger regional economies might fear the opening up of borders, in a region
as economically diverse as Southern Africa, stifling migration would lead to
further inequities.
Recognizing this potential to exacerbate regional economic differences,
the SADC Secretariat has
agreed on “a principle of asymmetry” meant to ensure that the policies adopted
for trade, industry, finance and investment are appropriate for less-developed
countries. For example, the RISDP states that plans will be formulated to
address “industrial development for peripheral areas or countries that may not
be as competitive as others.” While it remains to be seen exactly how labour
will be dealt with, as SADC works toward regional integration, it appears that
there has already been a conscious attempt to address the unequal geographical
terrain of development.
