What are the causes of Human Trafficking in the EU?
At this point it is important to provide some idea of the scale on which the trafficking of humans takes place in the EU. As Tupman(1) notes the UNODCCP estimates 4 million people are moved annually generating a potential $5-7 billion for traffickers. Also in this article it is noted that the New York Times found an individual who had paid $4000 for transportation from turkey to Dover and quotes of $25000 for transportation from Fujian, China to the UK. Due to the clandestine nature of the trafficking in humans the accuracy of these figures is questionable, yet what is clear is that the trade in humans is globally a multi-billion dollar industry, with many of the most popular locations for people to be moved to being within the European Union.
One of the reasons why this industry has become so huge is that there are incentives on both sides for the trafficking of humans to take place. There are social, political and economic factors which PUSH people away from one country, towards another. Often the only way people can make this transition is by seeking the help of illegal traffickers. Conversely there are equally many factors which will PULL migrants towards certain, often western, countries.
As noted by the Europol Annual Report of 2000:
"Illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings are both increasing. There is little evidence supporting the view that the increase will not continue in the future. As long as poverty, social and political instability and other push factors do not change substantially…. People will contnue to be moved in to the EU, either willingly or as victims of trafficking in human beings."
The IOM also points to push factors being important in the continuing rise in the incidence of human trafficking into the EU. People want to enter the EU for a plethora of reasons but most commonly because of the increased opportunities people receive in the EU, as opposed to Eastern Europe, Russia, China etc. However other reasons include, escaping war, persecution, violence, poverty, environmental disasters, or human rights violations. Given the obstacles involved in crossing the external borders of the EU, especially since Schengen, it is little wonder that people will turn to illegal traffickers in order to have a chance of gaining entrance to the EU. This is compounded by the fact that the traffickers will lie about the prospects faced by those entering the EU illegally and about how easy it will be to pay off the debt that the migrant will owe to the trafficker.
The fall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe has also provided another push factor. In recent years women, have been the victims of widespread unemployment in former communist countries. The down-sizing of the labour market in these countries has lead to it being monopolised, to a large extent by men. This has resulted in many women from these areas looking abroad for the opportunities that are denied to them at home. The Push factors are summarised well by Adam Graycar (Director, Australian Institute of Criminology) who noted tellingly that:
"It is said that if you live in Somalia, Egypt looks pretty good. If you live in Egypt, Greece looks pretty good. If you live in Greece Belgium looks pretty good….Of course, not everybody thinks this way, but for many the grass is greener elsewhere."
Not only is there a demand amongst non-EU nationals to enter the EU there is also, despite legislation suggesting otherwise, a demand for immigrants into the EU. Within EU states there is a constant demand for cheap labour of various sorts. The most obvious of these is within the sex industry yet men and women are also wanted to do domestic work, as well as dirty and dangerous jobs that it would cost far more to employ an EU citizen to do. This demand for cheap labour has made it easy for traffickers to sell their cargo, once they enter the EU, in turn encouraging more people to become involved in trafficking humans and also encouraging organised crime groups to attempt bigger and bigger operations.
There are also, however demographic reasons why there is a demand for migrants into the EU. This was noted by Jean-Pierre Chevenement(2), the French Minister of the Interior who presented a document to a meeting of the European Council of Ministers (28/7/2000) arguing that the EU will need to admit 75 million migrants before 2050. This prediction is based on the fact that UN population forecasts which stated that by 2050 the population of the EU countries and those bidding for membership will fall from 729 million to 628 million, whilst, at the same time the world’s population will grow from 6 billion to 9 billion. Simultaneously, the proportion of retired people in the EU is set to rise. This fall in the economically active population will cause the EU’s economy to shrink unless workers can be found to fill jobs in labour intensive industries. As Battistella and Asis, who are quoted in Adam Graycar’s paper note:
"As these countries approached full employment, and as their own population moved into better paying jobs, a vacuum was created in the so-called 3-D (dirty, difficult, dangerous) jobs. To fill the demand for workers at the low-end and unskilled jobs in manufacturing, the plantation, agriculture and fisheries, and domestic services, receiving countries (some reluctantly, some more openly) turned to foreign workers."
It is thought that the demand for foreign migrants is particularly high in areas where development is taking place. Developments in areas, which were previously relatively undeveloped, bring with them lots of single men looking for commercial sex for recreational purposes. There is a natural market here, which can be exploited by traffickers in humans.