MIGRATION AS A BUSINESS - THE CASE OF TRAFFICKING

A case is made for treating international migration as a global busine ss which has both legitimate and illegitimate sides. The migration bus iness is conceived as a system of institutionalized networks with comp lex profit and loss accounts, including a set of institutions, agents and individuals each of which; stands to make a commercial gain. The a rticle focuses on migrant trafficking, the core of the illegitimate bu siness. Migrant trafficking, a subject of growing political concern, i s recognized by migration experts and policy makers to be undermining international collaborative efforts to produce ordered migration flows . Trafficking, widely condemned for its inhuman practices and links to international organized crime, is also believed to be increasing in s cale and sophistication. Our model conceives of trafficking as an inte rmediary part of the global migration business facilitating movement o f people between origin and destination countries. The model is divide d into three stages: the mobilization and recruitment of migrants; the ir movement en route; and their insertion and integration into labour markets and host societies of destination countries. At each stage of the model we describe the trafficking business, its systematic organiz ation and its methods of operation: its inputs and outputs; its use of a set of common geographical routed; its methods of smuggling migrant s; its systems of planning and information-gathering; and its division into a set of technical and organizational tasks. This division of ro les is seen as critical for trafficking's survival. The model also sug gests how through the existence of common routes and networks of conta cts, traffickers increasingly channel migrants, thus determining the g eography of movement. We also demonstrate the model with available evi dence on trafficking mainly in and across Europe and attempt thereby t o show how trafficking operates both theoretically and in practice. Ou r conceptualization of trafficking as a business has important implica tions for the study of migration and for policy makers. For the former , trafficking blurs meaningful conceptual distinctions between legal a nd illegal migration. For the latter, trafficking presents new challen ges in the management and control of migration flows across borders. I n particular it suggests the need to look at immigration controls in n ew ways, placing sharper focus on the institutions and vested interest s involved rather than on the migrants themselves.