Is the smuggling protocol a viable solution to the contemporary problem of human smuggling on the high seas?

Abstract

This study examines the contemporary problems of combatting human smuggling on the high seas in light of the current rules of international law. Various factors-including economic deprivation, conflict, and violations of human rights-have all contributed to an increase in human smuggling. The perilous journeys, often across the high seas, have forced illegal migrants to seek the assistance of smugglers to reach their destinations. Today, the international community faces serious problems raised by the smuggling of thousands of persons such as human tragedies, threats to the safety of navigation, and major economic burdens on recipient States. Regrettably, the matter is not directly dealt with under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which codifies the high seas regime. The study analyzes to what extent the 2000 Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air provides a viable solution to the problem of human smuggling on the high seas.