An analysis of attempts deal with the problem of smuggling of human beings Essay

1. Introduction There are many factors that entice some people to use illegal means to reach the United States, the member states of the European Union and other countries. One of the illegal means is through human smuggling. Two of the main reasons are pegged on social as well as economic ties. Other reasons could be   the political instability, armed conflict, rapid population growth, environmental degradation, widening economic disparities between countries, and a worsening unemployment crisis in the Asia Pacific region are only a few of the reasons that have sparked several waves of human smuggling activities. Human smuggling always entails people leaving their home country where their loved ones are waiting for them to send back home money to pay for their family’s daily expenses. For, humans exhort to violating the immigration laws of their decision countries by entering through the smuggling channels because in order to acquire that elusive bag of gold offered in the destination country. In Congo, humans are smuggled to Europe by passing them off as musicians and dancers (Bafalikike 2003, 65).   This bag of gold includes protection from dangers to their life back home, employment, higher wages and a better life. Thus, these people are forced to leave their country of origin either voluntarily or   even involuntarily to improve their life to secure their lives, to secure their families and friends and their properties back home (Hampson, and Hay 2004). 2. Smuggling Operation-The Organisation Human Smuggling   from China to the United States has a long history. This started with the United States interpretation of the term refugee in 1996. Consequently, the last ten years saw the human smuggling of Chinese citizens   has increased   from a small –scale regional movement to a major global enterprise (Kung 2000, 1271). The Chinese smuggling network is run by big snakeheads that have institutionalized networks of small snakeheads, debt collectors and enforcers. With the good relationship with local Chinese government officials, many snakeheads   present themselves as philanthropists for they donate large sums of corruption money to improve their chosen home villages (Smith 2002). The smuggled humans do not ever meet these snakeheads but are only in communication with the snakeheads’ representatives or employees. Some of the smaller snakeheads are local Chinese residents who entice customers and collect down payments. In addition, droves of middlemen   tour the human smuggles from one transit point to the next until they reach their destination – United States. Upon arrival on the United States shores, these human smuggles are then imprisoned by the tour guides until they pay their fees. The big snakeheads normally hire gang members to collect the human smuggles’ debts. However, there is no flagrant evidence that organized crime holds the strings in the Chinese human smuggling business (Ruddock 2001). Evidently, the Chinese human smuggling business is controlled by so -called enterpreneurs who are involved in several criminal activities(Jandl, 2004). The tour guides and entrepreneurs juicily talk to their hapless victims that they have to pay only a small monetary price in exchange for a richer life in the United States. Thus, the willing Chinese victims endure the dangerous travel by sea, air and land in inhuman conditions that are worsened by the violent abuses of the enforcers (Chu 2000, 111). The entrepreneurs or Chinese smugglers   charges very exorbitant fees ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 for each person for their human smuggling services. To ensure success, the human smuggles pay   the smugglers lots of money in exchange for   passage through the high seas. The Chinese smuggles then are not forced to as indentured servants in American food services establishments or sweatshops to pay their smugglers. In fact, human smuggling has increased in alarming rate more (O’Rourke 2002, p1). For, the smugglers immediately collect the human smuggles’ debts from the friends and relatives of the newly arrived Chinese human smuggles in full upon arrival in the United States. Consequently, the smugglers will torture the human smuggles and inform the relatives that further harm will continue thus forcing their relatives and friends to pay the human smuggles’ debts if payment has not been made generally in one week’s time (Jandl, 2004). Usually, the Chinese human smuggles come from the Chinese province of Fujian. The smuggling networks starting the 1980s have already smuggled more than ten thousand Fujians into the United States. Fujian lies along the coastal Mainland side of China which is the main Chinese shipping route for export and import of goods.   In fact, Fujian is the birthplace of the founder of the Chinese Triad, San Lian Hui, which is the center of Chinese Smuggling. Human smuggling here was ignited when the war brought about by the Qing dynasty in the 19th century where thousands of Fujians fled the island to escape the war   and financial hardships then. The main source of the Fujian human smuggles are people living around Fuzhou City in the northern part of Fujian province. Here, several villages are housed many Chinese whose relatives are in the United States. The residents here are dependent on the money sent from their relatives in the United States. Unquestionably, money is the push factor that has forced many Chinese to illegally enter the United States. Along this line, many Chinese officials are being corrupted to allow a smooth transfer of the Chinese smuggles outside of China which weakens most levels of the Chinese society (Jandl, 2004). Further, one expert clarified that corruption of Chinese government officials plus the decentralization of the Chinese economy erupted into a massive unrest in the Chinese Society. Thus, this unrest increased the number of Chinese smuggled outside of China. The Chinese government could not stop the human smuggling because the Chinese officials in the smuggling areas were corrupt and cared more about the money they will receive through bribes than implementing the Chinese government’s efforts to curtail human smuggling in China. The ordinary Chinese citizen finds it an uphill climb in terms of procuring travel documents to enter the United States. On the other hand, the rich, educated and professional Chinese residents can easily travel abroad including the United States and members of the European Union States. For, the Chinese government are very strict in giving out passports to Chinese people applying for permission to go abroad. Normally, the legal way to go the United States includes applying for a passport from their local village officials. Then, the visa and passport applicant will apply at the United States Embassy in Beijing or the Consulate in Guangzhou.   After, the Chinese applicant must   apply with the Public Security Bureau for the final document needed to leave China. The final paper is the exit permit. However, there are many bureaucratic obstacles hounding the application in every step of the application process (Lubbers 2002). The human smugglers ply their trade by giving their clients fake documents   and passage to the United States.   Also, the lax immigration checkpoints in China and the transit countries until the United States have made human smuggling a very profitable and happy encounter. For, the smugglers make lots of money in return for a happy arrival into the United States. In addition, other authorities offer high prices to give their passports to clients. In addition, Chinese government officials themselves pay the human smugglers to smuggle their families and friends into the United States at an obviously discounted price.   The human smuggling travel passes through several transit points. There are dangers along bend of the way. The trip takes from a few weeks to even a year. The ride passes through Southeast Asian countries, Europe and South or Central America The human smuggles are at the mercy of the snakeheads and the enforcers. Not all human smuggling was successful. On June, 1993, the freighter Golden Venture ran aground in New York. It was discovered that more than three hundred Chinese smuggles were packed in 800 square feet of cargo space and had been at sea for more than three months with little food and water, no lifer preservers and only one ladder as escape route in case of danger. Upon discovery, an estimated two hundred Chinese smuggles jumped ship and swim across the literally ice –cold New York waters ashore where more than ten people died from froze bite   swimming in the freezing water. Ten of the migrants died while trying to reach the shore(Schneider, Steiner, and Romaine 2003). In addition, the early nineties saw thirty two ships carrying a total of more than five thousand Chinese migrants traveling towards the United States that were caught   many stop –over points in Asia, South America and Europe. After the Golden Venture Crackdown, still continued to brave the odds that were heavily stocked in miniscule fashion in the Chinese smuggles’ favour in fishing boats. In fact, one United States INS   officer   stated that at any given point in time, thirty thousand Chinese are   literary packed in sardine like safe houses around the world waiting for that rare and opportune time to enter the United States through the discreet smuggle entry points. Importantly, any clear and fast distinction between human smuggling and human trafficking seems spurious (Skeldon 2003 p.1). In 1998, the United States INS service uncovered a criminal syndicate that focused on smuggling up to one hundred fifty Chinese people per month into the United States through the Canadian border (Smart, 994, p 98). The criminal syndicate’s network encompassed five continents because they earn lots of money in this illegal activity. The method was to smuggle the Chinese through Canada by giving them fake passports. The Chinese smuggles then   were sent to New York City passing through the Saint Regis Mohawk Territory at Akwesasne. This was an American Indian Reserve the lies between the boundary of the United States and Canada.   This smuggling was busted and thirty seven members of the smuggling ring were jailed.   After the Canada bust, the smugglers focused their entry point through Mexico City (Cholewinski 1997, 4). Smuggling humans through Mexico had declined during the Great Depression of 1929 (Hansen 2006; Spener and Staudt 1998, null5). Recently, the Chinese smuggling ring is using Guam as its stop –over point (Jandl, 2004). Furthermore, many human smugglers use commercial airplanes to deliver their human smuggles so that the coast guard and the border patrol could not find them. Flying the human smuggles through the air lanes was more successful and comfortable as compared to the overly tight border patrols. The Chinese smuggles would wait an average of two months for their fake travel documents to arrives so they could fly to the United States passing through Asia, Europe and other transit points. It is difficult to estimate the magnitude of the human smuggles because of their discreet operations (Guiraudon and Joppke 2001, 107). When caught by the INS people, the Snake heads instruct their Chinese smuggles to say that they are applying for political asylum because they are escaping China’s one child policy (Newman and Van Selm 2003, 9). Then, the snake heads hire lawyers to get the smuggles on parole and out of jail. After leaving jail, the Chinese Smuggles then disappear in the Chinese communities hide from detection. In reality though, the United States benefits from the cheap labor that these Chinese smuggles offer (Jandl, 2004). 3. Protocols The United States INS detention centers could not keep the overbulging Chinese human smuggles who come in droves and in regularly smuggled fashion.   The current US jails could not keep the surge of Chinese human smuggles arriving.   And, a Chinese woman was jailed by the United States INS in October 24, 1999 who gave birth in a United States Jail. The jail guards rushed the pregnant mother to the nearest hospital. Naturally, many human rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union have complained that jailing the human smuggles are a violation of their human rights. For, the jail was a harsh environment taking into consideration the hardships these Chinese had to face for three or more months inside inhuman ocean going containers. Despite the eighteen arrests of Chinese Stowaways in another ship in Seattle and the detention of more then two hundred Chinese human smuggles found in container vans bound for the United States and Canada, there are still more that have not be caught. The series of successful detection of the Chinese smuggles that were smuggled as part of cargo in ships is used by the United States INS as proof that they are successful in their endeavor to decrease or even stop the rampant human smuggling into the United States passing through the European Union countries, Asia, Canada, Mexico and the like. The difficulty in detecting the Chinese smuggles is because there are too many cargoes loaded in a Cargo ship. In addition, many of the shipping companies and their crew do not know if their ship is carrying human smuggles. In response, the United States INS are holding responsible the shipping lines if human smuggles are discovered hiding in their ships. To stave off the proliferation of human smuggling, the United States makes it a criminal offense for anyone to bring or to aid in bringing human smuggles into the United States.   Likewise, it is considered a violation of the United States law if a person aids in the smuggling of persons into the United States. In addition, any person who entices another to enter the United States illegally will be punished with the full strength of the United States law. The penalty for human smuggling could reach up to five years. In addition, the enticing human smuggler will pay dearly if his human smuggle dies on board. However, if the human smuggling is done on a large scale or business –like basis, the penalty would be fifty dollars. However, these sentences will not stop the Chinese smuggles from entering the United States through sheer luck.   The United States Congress in 1996 placed human smuggling and immigration related visa fraud as RICO predicate offense. The RICO approach focuses on the leaders of the smuggling rings and not on the smuggling middle men. The violation of the RICO protocol will give out a fine that may include imprisonment of up to twenty years (Jandl, 2004). The United States had partnered with the United States address human smuggling. However, the focus on the United Nations is on the human trafficking of women and children and also white slavery. Combating human smuggling is a combined world –wide effort. However, corruption of local governments officials in China and other countries had made the curtailment of human smuggling next to nothing.     Ã‚  In reality, the detection of Chinese human smuggles are generally successful if someone secretly tips the border patrols on possible hideouts of the jail escapees   (Kyle, 2003). Developed countries are trying to find ways to curtail human smuggling. However, they   are against any policy that would reduce the demand for illegal workers. Evidently, the more there are strict immigration policies, the more will be the smuggler’s will to smuggle people because of the money involved (Kyle, 2003).