Addressing Migrant Smuggling in the European Union. Challenges for a Non-Criminalized, Coordinated and Effective Response

Migrant smuggling is a highly complex criminal phenomenon. Clearly cross-border in nature, smuggling frequently involves the participation of organized criminal groups. A coherent approach to these activities requires a clear and correctly implemented regulation, in the case of the EU the reference regulation is the ‘Facilitators’ package’. In the present contribution several controversies that this framework entails will be pointed out, especially the excessive criminalization and the neglect of the human rights perspective. Furthermore, the eradication of smuggling requires the sum of efforts and coordinated action of different actors such as national authorities and European agencies. In this paper some actions carried out by Europol in the Mediterranean will be studied. Focusing on the role of this law enforcement agency in the hotspots, the contribution of the information gathered and the benefits for Eurojust will be evaluated. 
Received: 31 July 2022Accepted: 10 October 2022