San José - A recent study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Central America and Mexico analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the migration flows involving migrant smugglers. The main findings indicate that smuggling has continued to happen, even though flows have diminished since the beginning of 2020.

Migrant smuggling, the irregular movement of people through international borders, constitutes one of the world's most lucrative criminal activities. While global mobility was utterly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic due to travel restrictions and border closures, the "smuggling of people" throughout Mexico and Central America was never "quarantined."

The report found no evidence of organized crime taking control of the smuggling of migrants, focusing on illegally transporting drugs, medicines, and other articles. Instead, the study found that subsistence smuggling prevails, practiced by inhabitants of border areas, impoverished due to reduced work opportunities and income loss caused by mobility and commercial restrictions.

Migrant smuggling, the report says, is practiced by men and women who depend on informal local economies as income sources. An increase was noted in children and adolescents who reside in border areas and use their knowledge of local hidden paths to facilitate irregular migration.

Findings include information about changes in demand, prices and organization of services offered by smugglers. The lack of resources to meet the payment demanded by smugglers forces migrant families to take mortgages on their lands and properties, becoming victims of both smugglers and lenders.

The study also explores the challenges that institutions have faced in responding to the issue in a context in which their resources and operations were directly affected.

"One of the recommendations of this study is to integrate communities involved in migrant smuggling into socioeconomic recovery strategies to diversify their income generation and livelihood alternatives," says Alexandra Bonnie, coordinator of IOM's Western Hemisphere Program. "States should recognize that diminished, inadequate or difficult access to safe and legal alternatives for migration fuels the demand for migrant smuggling, which in turn systematically puts migrants at risk. Under a comprehensive approach, the fight against this crime should be seen as one more aspect of migration management."

The study was conducted between July and August 2020 with a qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory methodology. Methods used included document review, field observation, and interviews with key government and international organization staff.

The study was presented on Wednesday, February 17, to representatives of member States of the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM), members of the Central American Commission of Directors of Migration (OCAM) and the Regional Coalition against Trafficking of Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (CORETT).

The report is part of the Western Hemisphere Program, funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

Find the full document (in Spanish) here, and a summary in English here.