Director-General/Executive Director
Madame chair, Commissioner Johansson,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I’m very pleased to join you today for this important discussion on migration, and I would like to thank the EU for organizing this event on the margins of the Summit of the Future.
This Summit provides a timely and unique opportunity to assess migration strategies, forge stronger responses, and enhance multilateral action.
I’m especially glad that we have partners from across the UN system with us today, including my colleague and friend, Ms. Amy Pope, the Director-General of IOM, and Mr. Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who have provided an important overview of migration trends and refugee flows.
[As they pointed out,] global displacement is reaching unprecedented levels.
Conflict, instability, climate-related disasters, and poverty are forcing millions from their homes, as they struggle for survival and seek out new lives.
Yet, for too many, the promise of safety remains out of reach.
It is the absence of safe, legal migration channels is driving them into the hands of smugglers and organized criminal networks, putting the most vulnerable at even higher risk.
This is most evident in the Mediterranean. In 2023, UNODC recorded over 290,000 migrants being smuggled across the sea from North Africa to Europe – a staggering 66 percent increase from the previous year.
We hear their tragic stories every day.
Another boat sinks. More lives lost. More families shattered.
But this is not a Mediterranean problem alone.
From the Darien Gap to the English Channel, and from Southeast Asia to the Sahel, migrant smuggling takes place in every region.
And it is criminals who are reaping the rewards, preying on the hopes and fears of people who see no other option.
Migrants are paying thousands of dollars for dangerous and uncertain journeys, fueling a global smuggling industry worth up to 7 billion dollars a year.
This money is laundered and hidden in plain sight through corruption and gaps in the financial system, while criminals exploit digital technologies to expand their reach and lure more vulnerable migrants through online platforms.
Meanwhile, too many migrants face human rights abuses, are detained in inhumane conditions, or exploited by human traffickers. And the most vulnerable suffer the worst of it.
UNODC data shows that women and girls in particular account for 60 percent of detected trafficking victims and are three times more likely to suffer physical or extreme violence, including sexual and gender-based violence.
And a third of all detected victims of human trafficking are children, a share that has risen in recent years.
Criminal justice systems are struggling to keep pace with the criminal networks perpetuating these crimes.
Too often, the focus is on catching low-level smugglers, while the masterminds behind these operations escape justice.
Even when arrests are made, convictions are rare due to weak legal frameworks, a lack of evidence, or victims being too afraid to come forward as victims will need the services time and again when left with no other choices.
At the same time, smuggling networks are often linked with other illicit activities, such as trafficking in drugs and firearms, underscoring the increasing convergence of these crimes and the need for coordinated action.
Excellencies,
There are three key areas where action can be taken:
First, we must strengthen criminal justice responses.
Border management agencies need the tools and capabilities to disrupt smuggling operations. This complements of course the much-needed route-based approach.
This requires providing technical assistance, sharing best practices, and promoting cross-border cooperation.
We must also dismantle the business model behind migrant smuggling by targeting their profits, tracing their illicit financial flows, and rooting out corruption wherever it exists, including by reforming laws and financial regulations.
While 158 countries have criminalized the smuggling of migrants, at least a third of these countries do not account for the financial dimension of this crime, a glaring gap that allows smugglers to continue profiting.
And we need to end impunity for these crimes by targeting the networks as a whole, holding their leaders accountable, and strengthening enforcement mechanisms.
Second, we must protect people on the move. This was covered by Filippo.
This means raising awareness of the risks and dangers along smuggling routes and preventing people from getting lured by false promises of a better life, including online and on digital platforms.
And it means detecting and helping those who have been victimized and exploited, with a gender-sensitive lens.
We must work closely with schools, healthcare professionals, social workers, and civil society organizations to recognize the signs of abuse and exploitation and to help victims, as well as with tech companies to regulate online spaces.
And third, we must do more to challenge the prevailing narrative on migration.
Migrants are not a threat or a burden.
They are people with skills and aspirations, who can contribute significantly to destination countries, especially those with labour shortages or ageing populations.
The vilifying of migrants has to stop, to be replaced with a recognition of their humanity and their potential.
We need more investment in local communities to provide vocational skills training, create economic opportunities, and provide disillusioned youth with hope of a better future in their home countries.
We need to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis, by strengthening the resilience of local economies and investing in sustainable financing and development.
And we need to work with all sectors of society, including civil society, governments, and the private sector to adopt comprehensive responses that protect people’s human rights and save lives.
As the guardian of the UNTOC and its protocols against migrant smuggling and human trafficking, UNODC is fully committed to this fight.
In 2023, through our Project Turquesa, we worked with INTERPOL to dismantle migrant smuggling networks, which led to the arrest of over 250 smuggling suspects and the detection of 12,000 smuggled migrants in Latin America.
And we are working closely with our international partners present here today.
Just a few months ago, I was proud to sign a new partnership agreement with IOM to help drive forward our joint efforts to tackle migrant smuggling and human trafficking, and I’m grateful to you Amy for your leadership and partnership with UNODC.
We are also working with UNCHR to advance protection responses in mixed migration flows, including by upholding the non-criminalization of humanitarian actors who work to help irregular migrants.
And earlier this year, we celebrated our 15-year partnership with the EU in addressing migrant smuggling, and I would like to extend my personal gratitude to you Madame Chair for your support to UNODC’s work.
Under your leadership, the EU has taken bold steps to manage migration and asylum more effectively, including through the adoption of the Pact on Asylum and Migration.
We will continue to support the EU and all Member States with technical assistance, capacity-building, and victim-centered responses.
Excellencies,
Managing migration is one of the most pressing challenges we face today.
But it is also an opportunity for us to come together and develop solutions that protect human dignity, combat organized crime, and build a more just world.
We must seize this moment – and the momentum of this Summit – to forge stronger partnerships and build systems that ensure migration is safe, legal, and humane.
I cannot close without echoing the words of gratitude to Commissioner Johannsson. I will miss your partnership. Thank you for the support and for the commitment.
