How Human Smugglers Shaped the Ethnic Communities of the Jungle Migrant Camp

The migrant camp in Calais, France housed migrants in its different manifestations from 1999 until its closure in October 2016. During this time, it housed a multitude of nationalities from various conflicts that displaced... [ view full abstract ]

The migrant camp in Calais, France housed migrants in its different manifestations from 1999 until its closure in October 2016. During this time, it housed a multitude of nationalities from various conflicts that displaced populations seeking to find a new home in the United Kingdom. To combat restrictive movement policies implemented by the EU and UK such as the Schengen Agreement and Treaty of Le Touquet, migrants turned to established routes used by human smugglers. Such smugglers, however, often have unique ethnic biases which discriminate against certain populations by charging higher rates and rejecting payment. For my IGS Honors Thesis, I am investigating to what extend the ethno-national biases of the smugglers in Calais influenced the cultures and demographics of the Jungle camp and why. To answer these questions, I will engage with various fields of academic work including sociology, history, and geography. I will examine existing smuggling networks in the Middle East and Northern Africa to contrast their practices with those in the Jungle. This will be framed in the larger context of international ethno-national criminal organizations who maintain smuggling routes for goods such as organs and narcotics which are then altered to facilitate the smuggling of humans. These networks, as established by the smugglers, operate under more traditional understandings of transnational business. 

This research is important as it investigates the scope and influence of human smugglers in the contemporary migrant flux into Europe from the Middle East and Africa. As the countries in Europe both individually and as conglomerates create new policies to abate migrants and asylum seekers from entering their nations, the power of human smugglers increases. These smugglers shape migrant communities in both their nation of operation and the nation to which they smuggle by facilitating some groups to travel and preventing others. In semi-permanent migrant settlements, these smugglers also become individuals placed high in the power hierarchy as they did in the Jungle.