Abstract. The European Union is tide in decision-making process, as the refugee/migrant crisis slows the process due to a high current flow. Where the unjust conditions around the world such as poor social responsibility, welfare, economy, instable political situations, security issues and many others make human trafficking, people smuggling and migration are main drivers violating the migration process not only in Europe but also in the whole world. As for today, trafficking in persons is well set business around the globe. The reasons as stated above influence the problem inside by driving it with significant degree. In Europe, unfortunately, the issue of illegal migration gives birth to a wide range of trafficking. The central point is the identity of refugee.
Unfortunately, by the end of the day, the issues of refugee and illegal migrants concern the civil society all around the world. In addition, there are no any clear solutions of methods of assistance to them. The number of deaths in the seas, borders are becoming as routine news on TV. The global civil society is embraced to understand the meaning of human rights, whereas the official determination by UN’ declaration (1949) article 1 [1]:
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in the spirit of brotherhood”.[1]
The increasing migrants’ flow in Europe becomes mainly common and driven by social and political instability, as illegal migration and human trafficking are the major human rights violation. Obviously one issue gives birth to another, and it is predicted that this trend will continue to grow, which has spurred the international community to take action and seek out preventative measures. Previously, the global impression of human trafficking was one of illegal migration and human smuggling. The definition of trafficking and illegal migration, however, is quite broad. As such, there is difficulty determining how best to measure these issues. As for the illegal migration term, United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime determines it as [2]:
“The "Illegal entry" shall mean crossing borders without complying with the necessary requirements for legal entry into the receiving State” (Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Crime). [2]
Scholars as O’Connell, Davidson, and Donelan (cited in Laczko&Gramegna, 2003) further explain trafficking n persons as [3]:
“an umbrella term to cover a range of actions and outcomes. Viewed as a process, trafficking can be said to entail several phases—recruitment, transportation (which could be across several countries), and control in the place of destination. Different groups, agents or individuals may be involved in different p
hases of the process, and can organize recruitment, transportation and control in different ways. There is thus immense diversity between and within trafficking systems.” [3]
The aim of this paper is to find out the role of government and international organizations in determination of the identity of the illegal migrant.
Illegal migration and identity
According to BBC (2015), 350,000 migrants were found at the border of European Union since January to August 2015, while the entire 2014 detects 280,000 people. The amount of 350,000 is an average figure referring to the International Organization of Migration (2015) whereas non-official data can increase the number dramatically. IOM also reports the death of 2,600 migrants who were lost in the Mediterranean waters aiming to arrive to Greece and Italy. Illegal migrants try to cross the dangerous Western Balkans planning to find their way to Germany or other northern European countries [4]. IOM states: “They run the gauntlet of brutal people traffickers and robbers.” These migrants are people motivated by labor issues, people seeking asylum, and people who are refugees [5]. Migrants are subject to a litany of human rights abuses, including not being able to access education or good health services, acceptable working conditions, and discrimination. The fact that migrants are also isolated from their home communities, typically exploited, and forced to deal with corrupt law enforcement all contributes to the migrant population’s vulnerability and marginalization due to instability of their states.
Analyzing the numbers given by Eurostat (2015), 626,715 migrants appealed for asylum status where only 160,000 people got positive result as granted protection status, whereas 23,000 obtained through appeal the protection status [6]. The priority was given to Syrians (68,300 or 37%), Eritreans (14,600 or 8%) and Afghanis (14,100 or 8%). The estimation of 800,000 asylum seekers is expected by the end of the 2015 year according to the German Government (2015), where before July 2015, the 44,417 appeals made by Syrian refugees. The author is aware of those who will be and are rejected in seeking the refugee status [7]. Probably, the negative consequences will arise with identity of the illegal migrants, as there is no any clear determined status for them. So as, the migrants will take an opportunity to seek other options by being trafficked by own consent in order to survive. In the result of this situation, the irregular migrant could be certainly described as the victim of trafficking and will be counted as the violator of migration rules and procedures. On one hand, the author recognizes victims’ right for protection and on other recognizes the “forced guilt” of the victim. All these and more will affect on and rise another aftermaths such as crime, smuggling, debt bondage, prostitution, slavery, narcotics etc.
Main drivers to migrate
The main issues that have led to the current situation:
- Issues of governing methods: Limited democratic experience, corruption, and a lack of accountability or transparency are all governance issues in the Northern African and Sub-Saharan
- Security matters: The security issues in the form of civil war in Syria and Afghanistan drive the people to migrate from their countries in seeking protection as the
- Migrant Rights Issues: More than half of illegal migrants have irregular legal status due to migrating without proper This puts them at greater risk of human rights violations. This is exceptionally true with children and women.
- Civil Society Development and Gender Issues: The civil society is not yet fully developed in mentioned regions, as the human rights abuse, freedom of speech and assembly are the major As outlined above, women are one of the most vulnerable migrant populations. They have reduced access to educational, professional, health, and legal services; and are unlikely to receive informal network protection.
- Health Issues: Migrants in general, and particularly those from Sub-Saharan region, have difficulty accessing the good health care. The rising numbers of HIV/AIDS and other diseases case will compound this problem for EU member states, as it is the urging point for destination
These issues could be best described as a part of stochastic processwhereby scholar Schmidt (2004) declares: “Stochastic social science theory is similar to systems theory in that events are interactions of systems, although with a marked emphasis on unconscious processes. The event creates its own conditions of possibility, rendering it unpredictable if simply for the number of variables involved. Stochastic social science theory can be seen as an elaboration of a kind of 'third axis' in which to situate human behavior alongside the traditional 'nature vs. nurture' opposition”. Thus, it was expectable the conditions or issues discussed above would create the possibility of current illegal migration crisis in Europe which makes this problem unpredictable for the most of European states, stressing out three main variables: 1. Migrant; 2. Transit/Destination state; 3. Rule of Law [8]. Thereby, stochastic process will prove its own significance once again, but the measuring the process would be a complicated challenge for all involved key actors. For instance, as for today, Hungarian politician Viktor Orban, denounced Croatia for “Violating Hungary’s sovereignty” by defending “Christian Europe” against Muslim migrants (euronews.com, 2015) [9]. Thus, the issues of discrimination, racism may come up which will violate the rights of the migrants.
Conclusion and recommendations
Author suggests that the issues of illegal migration issues from North African States and refugees from Syria and Central Africa should be as separate problems to solve. Of course the drivers discussed above are important in paying attention. Nevertheless, could there be another best scenario? As for example North African States have some minimal conditions to live, while in Central Africa people struggles to survive without any water resources or Syria where people are terrified by the horror of war. The priority of accepting refugees should be given to the people in real need, however this question is arguable, till that time when Europe will clear its’ strategy on the issues of identification, acceptance and policy in the Middle East in order to prevent the migrants’ flow.The migration crisis in Europe shows us the real picture of current situation in the whole world. The echoes of these problems will remain for a very long time. Mainly, the major question is the recognition of the migrant, his identity whether his rights will be protected during whole, dramatic process and where all international treaties regarding human rights are complied with local policies in Europe in the benefit of irregular migrants. Several recommendations are outlined as next:
- EU member states in coordination with International Organizations should concretize their aims and goals and balance their policies set to aid the irregular migrants and the process of the identification in accordance with the rule of law
- It is necessary to approach the issues of human trafficking and exploitation using a human-rights framework as trafficking prevention method in the question of
- Countries that send and receive migrants need to coordinate and synchronize their
- States should be permitted to safeguard their borders, but migrants must also be permitted their appropriate rights.
- Streaming consequences such as discrimination, racism, trafficking must be strictly regulated and monitored at all levels by NGOs for prevention, protection and prosecution purposes exclusively
- , 1948. The universal declaration of human rights. [online] New York: United Nations. Available from: https://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a4 [Accessed 09/19 2015]
- UNODC, 2000. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, 55/25. [Online] New York: United Nations. Available from: https://www.unodc.org/documents/middleeastandnorthafrica/organised-crime/UNITED_NATIONS_pdf [Accessed 09/19, 2015]
- LACZKO, F., , GRAMEGNA, G., M., 2003. Developing Better Indicators of Human Trafficking. Brown Journal of World Affairs, 10(1)
- COM, 2015. Why is EU struggling with migrants and asylum? Available from: http://www.bbc.com/news/world- europe-24583286 [Accessed 09/19, 2015]
- , 2015. Mediterranean update: Missing migrants project. Available from: https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/ infographic/IOMMediterraneanUpdate-June17.pdf[Accessed 09/19, 2015]
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- COM, 2015. Europe migrant crisis: Germany 'will cope with surge'. Available from: http://www.bbc.com/news/ world-europe-33992563 [Accessed 09/19, 2015]
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- COM, 2015. Masses of migrants and refugees adrift in Croatia. Available from: http://www.euronews.com/2015/09/19/masses-of-migrants-adrift-in-croatia [Accessed 09/19, 2015]