Channel Crossings: Inside the Workings of a People Smuggling Network

Human traffickers are subject to the same constraints as any other entrepreneur, this British weekly provocatively asserts. Analyzing their "business model" helps us understand just how difficult it is to dismantle networks around the Channel.

Drawing by Matt Rota, USA, for “Courrier international”. © IllustrationZone

“There are several types of smugglers,” explains an Iranian who crossed the Channel in a rubber dinghy and has since been granted asylum in the UK. “Some have a high profile and are known for their brand-new dinghies, equipped with life jackets. Others offer rock-bottom prices but are truly dangerous, using faulty boats.”

There's no shortage of terms for smugglers, who last year smuggled 36,800 people across the Channel. On March 31, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer opened the summit on illegal immigration by calling them evil exploiters. And that's what they are.

Yet they are also entrepreneurs. They sell a service that is in high demand , even though 82 people died as a result of it in 2024, according to the Missing Migrants Project, overseen by the United Nations. Viewing smugglers as entrepreneurs in a highly competitive, multi-million-euro market helps explain why the flow of their boats is so difficult to stem.

To succeed in this sector, it is necessary to bring together, under the noses of the police , migrants, boats and engines on a Belgian or French beach. Smugglers must be masters in the art of marketing, procurement, logistics, accounting and human resources.

They must overcome constraints few companies face: interacting in a multitude of languages and accepting the impossibility of legally pursuing their customers for non-payment. Only the most accomplished salespeople have a chance of seeing their business prosper.

Like many other businesses, smugglers advertise online, using social media platforms like TikTok. Moderators and police are working to eradicate their online presence: since 2021, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has shut down some 18,000 smuggler accounts and web pages. The ads are clearly working, as even the government has launched its own social media campaigns to discourage Albanians, Iraqis, and Vietnamese from attempting to emigrate illegally.

These ads are often generic, featuring a boat, smiling migrants, and a phone number. However, Dan Barcroft, head of the NCA's team specializing in organized irregular immigration, has already seen more polished campaigns that attempt to establish a brand image.

Asylum seekers praise certain smugglers, and the Channel crossing is presented in such a positive light that it becomes absurd. “They promise VIP service, with food and drinks available on board. It's a complete lie,” he says. It should be noted that smugglers are not subject to online advertising regulations.

Word of mouth is just as important in attracting customers. West of Dunkirk, in a squalid encampment set in a wood, around 800 people live in tents. It was there that we met a young Afghan man who said he paid €1,500 to cross into the UK. He had applied for asylum in Belgium three years earlier before being rejected. He heard about his smuggler through conversations with other migrants.

It may not have been solely altruistic that led him to this man: he may indeed employ recruiters who operate where migrants congregate. Researchers from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, a Swiss organization, met one such recruiter in Belgium, who receives between 100 and 200 euros for each new recruit. Smugglers also use brokers,

The Economist (London)

A major British press institution, The Economist, founded in 1843 by a Scottish hatter, is the bible for anyone interested in international news. Openly liberal, it generally advocates free trade, globalization, immigration, and cultural liberalism. It is printed in six countries, and 85% of its sales are outside the UK.

None of the articles are signed: a long-standing tradition that the weekly supports with the idea that “personality and collective voice matter more than the individual identity of journalists.”

On The Economist website, in addition to the newspaper's main articles, you'll find excellent thematic and geographical reports produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit, as well as multimedia content, blogs , and a calendar of conferences organized by the newspaper around the world. As a bonus: regular updates of the main stock market prices.

The magazine's coverage may vary between editions (UK, Europe, North America, Asia), but the content is the same; in the UK, however, a few additional pages cover national news. The Economist is 43.4% owned by the Italian Agnelli family, with the remaining stake being shared among prominent British families (Cadbury, Rothschild, Schroders, etc.) and members of the editorial staff.