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EU: Joint Europol-Frontex report on "digitalisation of migrant smuggling"

Europol and Frontex have produced a joint report on the "digitalisation of migrant smuggling", intended to provide state officials with in the EU and Western Balkans "with a comprehensive intelligence picture on the use of digital tools and services' [sic] in migrant smuggling and related document fraud, in order to raise awareness, consolidate existing knowledge and enforce opportunities to take appropriate measures to tackle emerging threats."
Date
25 October 2021
Institution
European Union (EU)
Topics
Borders and frontiers Snooping and surveillance
Europol and Frontex have produced a joint report on the "digitalisation of migrant smuggling", intended to provide state officials with in the EU and Western Balkans "with a comprehensive intelligence picture on the use of digital tools and services' [sic] in migrant smuggling and related document fraud, in order to raise awareness, consolidate existing knowledge and enforce opportunities to take appropriate measures to tackle emerging threats."

See: Digitalisation of migrant smuggling (contained in Council doc. 12353/21, LIMITE, 29 September 2021, pdf)

Contents of the report

Key points

Introduction, background and scope

Migrant smuggling in the digital era

Advertisement and recruitment

Communication and instructions

Guidance via mapping apps

Money transfer

Countermeasures

Supporting criminal services: Document fraud

Digital leads into migrant smuggling

Impact of migrant smuggling digitalisation

Challenges and intelligence gaps

Annex I: Overview of applications and platforms identified in connection to migrant smuggling

Annex II: Recommendations for handling seized mobile communication devices