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The Failing International Legal Framework on Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking

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The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking

Abstract

The article observes and discusses the failure of the current international legal framework relating to human trafficking and migrant smuggling. It argues that this framework has failed to provide a solid basis for dealing with these issues and that there have been serious consequences due to that failure. It suggests that the legal distinction between migrant smuggling and human trafficking has proven inadequate as a basis for international cooperation and the protection of migrants and victims of trafficking. On the one hand, the complicated legal definition of human trafficking imposed by that framework has been inoperable and has contributed little to the protection of victims of that heinous crime. On the other hand, the criminalization of migrant smuggling has served to justify the criminalization of immigration and weaken the protection owed to refugees. The article deplores the lack of space left in international immigration and criminal justice policies for alternative approaches to these issues and calls for a different contribution from academic research to broaden that space.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy & School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC, Canada

    Yvon Dandurand

  2. International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC, Canada

    Jessica Jahn

Authors
  1. Yvon Dandurand
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  2. Jessica Jahn
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Correspondence to Yvon Dandurand .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mount Royal University , Calgary, AB, Canada

    John A. Winterdyk

  2. Bristol Law School, UWE , Bristol, UK

    Jackie Jones

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Dandurand, Y., Jahn, J. (2019). The Failing International Legal Framework on Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking. In: Winterdyk, J., Jones, J. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63192-9_47-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63192-9_47-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63192-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63192-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Law and CriminologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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