Institution: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Year: May 28 to 30, 2019
Implementing partner:
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Brief overview:
Over the last decade, the higher number of air routes increased connectivity between countries. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) data, about 4 billion passengers used air travel in 2017 alone, a record number since 2010 that represents a 9.7% increase. Also, in 2017 airlines connected a record number of cities around the world, connecting nearly 20,000 city pairs, adding 1,351 new routes compared to 2016, and doubling the figure for 1995, when there were fewer than 10,000 city-pair connections globally. During this period, the price of air travel for consumers dropped more than half.
Price competitiveness and greater connectivity between countries, unfortunately, have both benefited organized crime networks by providing greater access to air transportation, as smuggling of migrants by air is still practically unknown in many countries.
The International Conference on Smuggling of Migrants by Air — held on May 28, 29, and 30, 2019, in Mexico City, Mexico — offered a unique opportunity for a high-level global dialogue to tackle the smuggling of migrants by air both in Mexico and in the region. One of the main objectives was to promote the sharing of best practices and lessons learned and to establish or strengthen key alliances between regions, countries and government institutions, organizations, agencies, civil society, and other stakeholders to improve cooperation in investigating, prosecuting, and punishing the smuggling of migrants by air.
Consulting services consisted in the organization of the International Conference: Smuggling of Migrants by Air. Relevant activities included the development of key materials, such as concept notes, agenda, identification of speakers and preparation of a speaker's manual, identification of special guests, and moderation of the event.
The panelists were high-level experts on the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of the smuggling of migrants by air, and experts specializing in prevention and prosecution. That included members of police and customs departments, airport authorities, border security forces, immigration services, local and regional governments, tax and customs authorities, NGOs, companies, embassies, and relevant EU agencies, such as Europol, Eurojust, and Frontex.
Ingrid Hernández-Ardieta, CEO of COOPERA4DEVELOPMENT, moderating the panel entitled “Tools that contribute to the prevention of the crime of smuggling of migrants by air” at the Conference on Smuggling of Migrants by Air, UNODC, 29-May-2019, in Mexico City, Mexico
