Migrant Smuggling and the Criminalisation of Migration in the EU

'Federico Alagna's book addresses the policies on smuggling in the EU as well as their implementation in practice showing how, far to be effective in their proclaimed aims of dismantling criminal networks involved in smuggling, they have a dire impact on the lives of the migrants themselves."

-Donatella della Porta, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy.

"Federico Alagna analyses brilliantly the issue of migrant smuggling as part of Sicilian, Italian and EU migration policy."

-Rinus Penninx, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

"Alagna's analysis of how anti-smuggling policies developed (or not) is a must-read for scholars, policymakers and everyone interested to go beyond the rhetoric around one of the most salient topics of today."

-Tineke Strik, Member of the European Parliament & Radboud University, the Netherlands.

This book examines migrant smuggling and migration governance in the European Union. Following the so-called 'refugee crisis' of 2014-15 and the rise in the number of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea, growing concern has been expressed in the media and elsewhere as to how EU institutions have tackled migrant smuggling. Focusing particularly on Italy during the period of the Eighth European Parliament (2014-19), the book assesses the evolution of anti-smuggling policies at EU and national level, and considers why institutions and policy-makers have failed to fully address the issue. Adopting a bottom-up approach, it also analyses the roles that people on the move, smugglers, law enforcers, the judiciary and border guards play in influencing policy processes. With political and public debates over migration more vociferous than ever, the book provides important insights into the EU approach to migrant smuggling. It will appeal to all those interested in public policy, migration studies, European politics and criminology.

Federico Alagna is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy, and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna, Italy.