RT Article
T1 Trafficking and Syrian refugee smuggling: evidence from the Balkan Route
A1 Mandic, Danilo
LA English
YR 2017
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1588526577
AB As of March 2016, 4.8 million Syrian refugees were scattered in two dozen countries by the civil war. Refugee smuggling has been a major catalyst of human trafficking in the Middle East and Europe migrant crises. Data on the extent to which smuggling devolved into trafficking in this refugee wave is, however, scarce. This article investigates how Syrian refugees interact with smugglers, shedding light on how human smuggling and human trafficking interrelated on the Balkan Route. I rely on original evidence from in-depth interviews (n = 123) and surveys (n = 100) with Syrian refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Serbia, and Germany; as well as ethnographic observations in thirty-five refugee camps or other sites in these countries. I argue that most smugglers functioned as guides, informants, and allies in understudied ways—thus refugee perceptions diverge dramatically from government policy assumptions. I conclude with a recommendation for a targeted advice policy that would acknowle
K1 Menschenhandel
K1 Schmuggel
K1 Verbrechensbekämpfung
K1 Asylrecht
K1 Migration
K1 Flucht
K1 Syrien
K1 Beratung
K1 Migrationspolitik
K1 Balkanroute
DO 10.17645/si.v5i2.917