An Analysis of the Human Smuggling Trade and the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea (2000) from a Refugee Protection Perspective CLAIRE BROLAN* Abstract This paper provides an analysis of the worldwide human smuggling trade and the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea (the `Smuggling Protocol'), which supplements the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime 2000. Since this paper is written from a refugee protection perspective, it there- fore examines who refugees are, why they resort to the use of people smugglers, and the dangers they face in doing so. It also considers the subsequent challenge for the international community to safeguard the rights of smuggled refugees and asylum seekers within the broader context of migration management, particularly in regard to the right of non-refoulement and access to protection. Here, two `challenges' appear to have arisen: firstly the manner by which states differentiate between refugees and asylum seekers and undocumented migrants (or so-called `economic migrants'), who also resort to, or are exploited by, people smugglers and traffickers; and secondly, the procedures and methods states develop to prevent their asylum systems from being abused for immigration purposes. Accordingly, the Smuggling Protocol is examined to ascertain whether it can and will solve these aforementioned difficulties, and especially whether it adequately safeguards refugee rights. This paper concludes that whilst the Smuggling Protocol has the potential to do such, its application (and the extent of that application) ultimately depends on the will of the State Parties, and thus could amount to nothing more than a list of `good intentions'. This paper also examines whether even if the Smuggling Protocol is a positive step in combating the `crime' of people smug- gling, it is nonetheless a `band aid mechanism' Ð highlighting the dire need for the * Claire Brolan has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Law (Hons) from Bond University, Australia. After completing her MA in International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, she is working for Gill and Co. Solicitors, a civil liberties law firm in London. International Journal of Refugee Law Vol. 14 No. 4 Published by Oxford University Press 2003.