Assistance and Protection of Smuggled Migrants: International Law and Australian Practice

The United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air obliges States Parties to provide ‘appropriate assistance’ to smuggled migrants. The understanding of the precise content of this provision is, however, often overshadowed by the broader criminal justice purpose of the Protocol and by the approach taken by States Parties, including Australia. This article critically examines the obligations to assist and protect smuggled migrants by identifying the content and expectations of relevant provisions, illustrating their practical implementation within the Australian context, and evaluating these practices against international best practice guidelines in order to establish whether Australia is meeting its international commitments.