Trends in Organized Crime, Smuggling, and International Security.
The last year has seen a significant decline in irregular migrant departures from Libya and a steep rise in departures from Tunisia. This article disabuses the persistent claim there's a link between the two phenomenon, explains why, and argues that Tunisia needs an open policy debate on how to handle transit migration. Published by ISS Today, it can be accessed here.
Rather than making North Africa safer, securitizing borders has raised the risk of instability along the region’s frontiers, where communities depend on smuggling. To see the full article, published by Sada, at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace more, see here.
Training must be upgraded so that police can play a positive role in joint anti-trafficking efforts. The full article, published by ISS Today, details steps to mainstream, modernize, and standardize police training. It can be accessed here.
Between 01 January 2017 and 25 July 2018, Algerian and Tunisian authorities intercepted 12,727 irregular migrants. Nearly all of those caught in either country were nationals of that country. The graph below breaks this down on a month-by-month basis, underscoring the significant seasonal variation in departures. It also highlights how atypical this spring's irregular migrant surge was in Tunisia.
