Welcome back!
And thank you to every one of you who has come here for this Conference of the Global Alliance Against Migrant Smuggling.
You represent more than 80 important partners from five different continents, international organisations and digital platforms. Your countries account for almost two billion of the worlds citizens. Some of you come from countries with already high GDP, some from countries with dynamic growth rates.
But there is one thing that unites you all: the desire to end migrant smuggling and the trafficking in human beings.
To protect the vulnerable people from smugglers and traffickers who exploit them and endanger their lives.
To create safe and legal pathways for those in need of protection, and to promote circular labour mobility – in short: legal migration that is under the control of our governments.
This is something we can do. I say this with confidence for one simple reason: the reality of migrant smuggling is that it thrives because of fragmentation. It is what happens between the gaps in our systems.
One of the reasons it grows is that we do not coordinate well enough to stop it.
Today, with more than 50 endorsements of the Joint Declaration, we are taking the next step to change that. The Declaration sends a powerful signal to the smugglers, that their business model will no longer work. It shows that we will coordinate and work together on every aspect of this problem.
Three Strands for the Day
That holistic approach is reflected in the structure of todays conference, where we look at smuggling from many dimensions.
In session one, the focus is on the digital domain, co-chaired by Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi from Pakistan and Executive Director Catherine De Bolle from Europol. Like everything else, the work of smugglers has shifted more and more into the digital domain. At the same time, new tools give us excellent new opportunities to fight smuggling and trafficking. Our ability to work together digitally is therefore a vital part of our response.
This is why, less than 2 years ago, we set up the first international network of experts in investigations online, DIGINEX. We will hear about the concrete results this has already brought, and also about the way forward.
The second session cuts to the heart of what migrant smuggling is all about: it is about money. By focusing on illicit flows of money, we have an opportunity to take the oxygen out of their business. I thank the co-chairs Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper of the United Kingdom and my colleague Commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque for leading this session.
We will hear about the progress we have made through joint cooperation among our law enforcement authorities to ‘follow the money, across states and continents. A cornerstone of our achievements over the past two years is the reinforcement of Europol, with new powers and resources to help in this task.
The third session looks at the alternatives. Because if we are to be successful in stopping migrant smuggling, we must work together to develop alternatives. The co-hosts of this session, my colleague Executive Vice President Henna Virkkkunen, and Minister of Interior of Albania Albana Kociu, will lead the discussion on safe and legal pathways; and on sustainable reintegration. The goal is to create the right conditions for migration and labour mobility that is beneficial to everyone – except of course the criminal smugglers!
From Commitment to Action
I am convinced that with your commitment, we can make progress on all these strands. But of course, progress depends on concrete actions.
For example, on labour mobility, the EU is already active in developing this approach, with the new EU Talent Pool for labour migration – a concrete initiative to help EU companies recruit skilled workers from abroad.
And today we are launching the new Global Alliance Rapid Response Initiatives, a tool that will help us react quickly, whenever new routes emerge, or when criminals find new methods of working.
Of course, ‘reacting also requires investment. We have consistently supported work on counter-smuggling and trafficking through funding, and we will continue to do so, with EU initiatives and with investments in partner countries.
We also want to hear your proposals for new solutions – whether it is new standards for aviation, better police cooperation, or better online and satellite detection – or something else entirely.
The Global Alliance is a shared project; that means we must co-create the solutions. I propose that we use the time today to do that.
Conclusion
Let us remember: migrant smuggling is not a European problem. Or an African problem. Or an Asian problem. When we see it in those narrow terms, we allow for gaps which smugglers can exploit.
Migrant smuggling is a global problem. Therefore, it can only be solved with a truly Global Alliance. Thank you.
