Hardline migration policies adopted by governments across the globe have been a boon for people smugglers, fuelling demand and allowing them to raise their prices, according to a report. More than 50,000 of them said they had used smugglers, with many of them linking their decision to the absence of accessible opportunities for legal migration. 14:07 How Europe’s immigration crackdown is fuelling smuggling gangs – videoDespite widespread assertions that smugglers are luring people into irregular migration, just 6% of the migrants surveyed said smugglers had influenced their decision. The data made it clear that smugglers were not the cause of irregular migration, said Forin. In Europe, campaigners have long warned that policymakers are pushing people towards smugglers by restricting legal migration pathways such as family reunification.
