The European Commission wants to combat irregular immigration by focusing on mafias and toughening penalties. Brussels wants to harmonize the legal definitions of human trafficking throughout the European Union and the sanctions for this type of crimes – which are transnational – with sentences of up to 15 years in prison for the trafficker if the death of migrants occurs. The sentence would be a maximum of 10 years if the trafficker uses “serious violence”, if he is part of a criminal organization and other aggravating factors, according to a proposed directive presented this Tuesday in Brussels. In Spain, this proposal would mean increasing the penalties because the maximum is now eight years. The initiative of the Community Executive seeks to expand the jurisdiction to prosecute these crimes also in international waters (through which this trafficking partly transits). The Commission, which is exploring formulas to reduce the arrivals of irregular migrants, also wants to give more power to Europol, the European agency for major international crimes, and strengthen cooperation between partners.
Brussels assures that 90% of irregular migrants who arrive in the EU use different smuggling services, according to estimates by Frontex, the EU border agency. In the communication accompanying the directive, Brussels points out that the “ruthless traffickers” have caused the deaths of more than 28,000 people since 2014, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration. “Smugglers are a threat to migrants, but also to the EU. They are a threat to people’s dignity. And I can say that we see a growing level of violence by these gangs towards migrants and also towards border guards,” lamented this Tuesday the Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, who has demanded “tools” to combat these mafias.
The Swedish commissioner has estimated profits worldwide from human trafficking between 5,000 and 6,000 million and has evoked several dramatic cases that have been seen in Europe in recent times. “Let me remind you, once again, that we had a shipwreck near the coast of Greece, where approximately 600 people sank to the bottom of the sea, many of them Pakistanis, or that in Bulgaria at the beginning of this year we found 18 Afghans dead in a truck,” he recalled before pointing out that these mafias “represent a threat comparable to the terrorist one.” The Commission’s project was presented this Tuesday, coinciding with an international conference on human trafficking being held in Brussels.
Migrant trafficking is reaching new levels in Europe, driven by emerging economic crises, environmental emergencies derived from climate change, conflicts in different areas of the world or demographic pressure. In 2022, around 331,000 irregular entries were detected at the EU’s external borders, the highest level since 2016, after a couple of years with low levels of arrivals due to the coronavirus pandemic, where everything came to a standstill, including immigration. . So far this year (until the end of September), some 281,000 irregular crossings have been detected, 18% more than the same period of the previous year, according to Frontex, which assures that by analyzing migratory flows and existing crises “it can be expected criminal smuggling activities” in this area. Human trafficking is a very lucrative activity, according to analyzes by the UN agency for the study of organized crime, which estimates that smuggling networks obtain between 4.7 and 6 billion euros a year worldwide (data from 2018).
There is currently a European legal framework against the “facilitation” of entries, but the Community Executive recognizes that it is too broad and that it needs to be updated. Furthermore, according to the proposal for a directive – which will now have to be negotiated with the Member States around the clock if this legislature that ends in the summer is to succeed – the penalties for the different crimes related to human trafficking differ greatly between the partners. Harmonizing them, Brussels believes, will have a “deterrent” effect and will prevent traffickers from seeking to operate in the least severe legislative frameworks.
The maximum level for “facilitating unauthorized entry and transit” without aggravating circumstances ranges from one year in Belgium and Spain (the Spanish Penal Code includes several aggravating circumstances with a maximum penalty of up to eight years) and a maximum of ten years in Bulgaria, Cyprus. and Ireland, according to data from the European Commission. And the criminal penalties for “facilitating residence” also vary between one year in five Member States, including Spain or Austria or the Czech Republic, and 15 years in Cyprus. The new regulation establishes criteria so that, when the crimes are considered aggravated – that there is violence, that the migrants are minors or who present special vulnerability or that the accused is a public official -, higher penalties are imposed (between 10 and 15 years). maximum). In addition, he emphasizes that the new penalties must also be applied to “attempts” of irregular entry, even if they are not successful.
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The proposed directive specifies that there must be a profit motive to be considered “facilitation” of entry or traffic (helping to enter, transit or remain) or that there is “a high probability of causing serious harm to a person.” Brussels thus narrows the definition, following criticism from human rights, rescue and civil rights NGOs, which assure that in some countries they can be criminalized for rescuing or helping migrants for humanitarian purposes. This has happened in Greece or Italy. Also in Denmark, but that country is exempt from adopting this directive, as well as other immigration policies, and will decide whether to adopt it or not. Brussels also clarifies that migrants cannot be criminalized for having resorted to mafias to cross into the EU.
The Commission also demands that it be included as a specific crime when these crimes are facilitated, coordinated or promoted on the Internet, and states that the contents on-line that “publicly instigate entry” or “provide assistance” must be considered “illegal content” and treated according to the regulation that pursues them. Brussels seeks to ensure that Member States can also prosecute and punish crimes committed on board ships and aircraft registered in that Member State or flying its flag, in addition to crimes that have been committed in international waters towards the EU.
With the new regulation, the Community Executive does not attack, however, the controversy that has arisen with European funds to manage migratory flows destined for countries like Libya, where several investigations have determined that the authorities that have received them have collaborated with human trafficking mafias, according to UN data.
Brussels wants to give more power to Europol by reformulating a specialized center to fight against human trafficking networks. Furthermore, the Commission wants the Member States to assign specialized personnel to combat these mafias and to increase collaboration with Europol, to which it wants to allocate a new package of 50 million euros, new funds that will be difficult to fight in a context of cuts and review of priorities in the context of multi-annual budgets.
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