[Book review] Migrant smuggling : irregular migration from Asia and Africa to Europe

Abstract

This book digs into an area of international migration studies that has gained prominence in the past couple of decades: migrant smuggling. The regional focus is southern Europe, which receives immigrants from many African and Asian countries. Migrant smuggling is discussed in relation to EU and national policies, aimed at combating irregular migration, including increased surveillance and border controls.The authors are no newcomers to the field. Anna Triandafyllidou is a leading scholar in migration studies, having published extensively on various topics dealing with migration in Europe, and with a special interest in Greece and southern Europe. Thanos Maroukis, on the other hand, is an early career academic whose publications have focused specifically on migration in Greece. It is, therefore, not surprising that the authors approached this topic of migrant smuggling from Africa and Asia to Europe by focusing mainly on the situation in Greece and the Turkish-Greek route. The book is based on fieldwork, participant observation and interviews conducted in Athens. The empirical material is extensive, covering a broad range of actors.