Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking under Turkish Law

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The smuggling of migrants

Article 79 of the Turkish Penal Code (“TPC”) regulates crimes regarding the smuggling of immigrants. The smuggling of migrants is defined as assisting foreign nationals to enter or stay illegally in Turkey or assisting foreign nationals or Turkish citizens to leave Turkey illegally with the intention of directly or indirectly obtaining a material benefit. Such assistance may be in the form of providing transportation means or even false passports. Article 79 TPC stipulates penalties of three (3) to eight (8) years imprisonment and hefty monetary fines for migrant smugglers. If the crime is committed by perpetrators who are acting as an organization, the penalty imposed will be increased by half.

Human trafficking

Human trafficking differs from migrant smuggling. According to Article 80 TPC, human trafficking is committed with the intention of making someone or the victim work or serve, or subjecting them to prostitution or persuading someone to give up their bodily organs through pressure, use of force, threats, coercion, use of undue influence or to secure their consent by deception or exploiting them. Therefore, the consent of the victim is void for this type of offence. A perpetrator who makes someone enter or leave Turkey, kidnap, supply, take from one place to another, transfer or provide shelter will be sentenced to eight (8) to twelve (12) years imprisonment and a significant monetary fine. If the perpetrator in question is younger than eighteen (18) years of age, the sentence will be applied, even if he or she did not use any threats, coercion, use of force or undue influence.

Both offences are considered different types of international crimes given their serious nature. The TPC also covers crimes of genocide (Article 76), crimes against humanity (Article 77) and setting up an organization for the purpose of committing genocide and crimes against humanity (Article 78).

Individual offences

In the TPC, offences against an individual refer to a broad array of criminal offences which usually involve bodily harm or other actions committed against the will of an individual. Those involving bodily harm include soliciting suicide (Article 84) and homicide, whether it is intentional (Articles 81 to 83) or negligent (Article 85).