The crime of migrant smuggling

Illegal immigration is one of the most important problems that occupy the world agenda in recent years, and it is increasing gradually due to the increase in the level of development between countries, climate changes due to global warming, natural disasters, hunger, poverty, wars, internal turmoil and political pressures. Immigrants leaving their countries with the expectation of a better life and entering another country illegally with the help of migrant smugglers threaten the international social order, the social structures of the countries and the border security. In order to solve the problem of illegal immigration and migrant smuggling, which is growing day by day and becoming a global problem, many legal regulations have been made in the national and international arena. "The 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Legal Status of Refugees" and the "Additional Protocol dated 1967 to this Convention" and the "Annex Protocol to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, Against Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air" are some of them. Turkey, signed on 13 December 2000 and ratified on 25 March 2003 the "Additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime Against Migrant Smuggling by Land, Sea and Air", has accepted obligations regarding the prevention and criminalization of migrant smuggling. In this context, firstly, the "Immigrant Smuggling Crime" was regulated in 201/a, which was added to the abrogated Turkish Penal Code No. 765 with Law No. 4771 in 2002, and Article 79 of the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237 in force. In the first part of our study, which consists of three parts, the concepts related to immigration and immigration, the historical development of immigration in Turkey and in the world, illegal immigration and the regulations in comparative law, in the second part, the regulations that include the crime of migrant smuggling in Turkish law, the elements of the crime and the legal values protected by the crime, in the third part. On the other hand, the distinction of the crime of migrant smuggling from similar crimes, the sanction and the procedure of judgment are included and as a result, determinations and suggestions are made regarding the crime of migrant smuggling.