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First international conference will deal with people smuggling
Over 200 experts from all EU member states will meet on 12 and 13 January to discuss how to tackle people smuggling. This requires measures at both national and international level
The two-day conference, organised by the Directorate-General for Immigration and the European Migration Network (EMN), will take place at Amsterdam’s historic naval dockyard. It will be the first international conference held by the Netherlands EU Presidency.
The conference comes at the right time. We are still seeing harrowing pictures of migrants who have risked life and limb to make the journey to Europe, often with the help of smugglers.
Multidisciplinary approach
The conference will highlight the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to people smuggling. Migrants often use different smugglers in several countries during their journey. That’s why it’s vital for various national and international organisations in different countries to join forces in tackling this problem.
The aim is to enable these various actors to work together more effectively. The Netherlands has developed the Barrière model for this purpose. It includes criminal-law, administrative, tax-related and private-law measures to prevent and reduce smuggling. The Netherlands will actively promote this approach during the conference.
Interactive workshops
Participants will be encouraged to actively share their knowledge. During the conference interactive workshops will be held on the six main themes of the EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling:
- improving the exchange of information;
- investigating smugglers’ financial networks;
- using social media data;
- involving the private sector;
- developing effective information campaigns;
- focusing on push and pull factors in migration.
