ENPI EAST/ EASTERN PARTNERSHIP PANEL ON MIGRATION AND ASYLUM ADDRESSED HUMAN SMUGGLING

International cooperation in tackling human smuggling topped the agenda of a meeting of the Eastern Partnership Panel on Migration and Asylum held in Vilnius on 10-11 June. The seminar, co-organized by Lithuania and Belarus, brought together some forty experts from the Eastern Neighbourhood and EU member states. Participants also included representatives of government agencies, academia, civil society and international organizations, a press release said.
 
All speakers agreed that “human smuggling” is an extremely complex issue and requires a comprehensive response in countries of origin and transit. The need for clear differentiation between “human trafficking” and “human smuggling” was stressed, “in order to ensure that the appropriate response and assistance are provided to the smuggled or trafficked individual.”
 
Representatives of EU agencies, FRONTEX, EUROPOL and the EU Border Assistance Mission to the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM), showcased a range of approaches to ensure multi-level cooperation among partner countries in the field of counteracting human smuggling, as well as a number of international instruments serving this purpose.
 
Innovative measures and national practices in terms of combatting human smuggling were discussed and shared by the participants and also presented through the discussion paper prepared prior to meeting by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Lithuania and Poland described the work of their border guard services from the particular perspective of states guarding external EU borders...(link)