Irregular Migration in the Republic of Serbia with a Particular Emphasis on Human Smuggling by Organized Criminal Groups

Apstrakt

Мigration trends have undergone radical changes due to the eruption of conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and including clashes on the territory of Africa. Political, social and economic problems have additionally instigated migratory flows towards Europe. Bearing in mind that human smuggling and irregular migration have a transnational character, there is no country that can individually efficiently face the criminal activity. Due to its geographic position, Serbia is being increasingly used as a transit route for secondary movement of the irregular migrants within the so-called Western Balkan Route. Human smuggling as a form of organized crime deriving from irregular migration in Serbia is an activity carried out by organized and criminal groups with a primary goal to achieve high profit with a low detection rate. Due to their network model of organization and specialization for certain phases of human smuggling, they have the capacity to independently smuggle people from the country of origin to the country of destination. An aggravating circumstance in the detection of organizers and members of such organized criminal groups in Serbia is the use of languages (Urdu and Pashto) in mutual communication of the members, since there is no official translation/ interpretation at their disposal.