Why Shutting Out Migrants Fuels Smuggling

The migration debate in Germany and Europe is dominated by the terms “control” and “toughness.” From the Global Alliance To Counter Migrant Smuggling conference in Brussels to the CDU party convention and discussions of asylum reform in the Bundestag, the message is always the same: New, tougher measures are needed against irregular migration. The assumption: If you push back hard enough, you can influence the behavior of migrants and refugees. But a new study based on interviews with 80,000 migrants and 450 smugglers by the think tank Mixed Migration Centre, funded by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, paints a different picture. Tougher measures fuel the smuggling business and make migration riskier and more expensive. We need a policy that consistently strengthens options for legal migration and thereby creates real control.