The crime-terror nexus in Canada: changing human trafficking operations and smuggling

In the post-9/11 era, the Canadian and the United States government are facing two phenomena, Narco-Terrorism and Crime-Terror Nexus. Terrorist groups and transnational organized crime are aligning their illicit activities. This thesis will demonstrate how the convergence of these two clandestine enterprises changes human trafficking and smuggling operations, and thus pose a higher caliber threat to vulnerable populations, such as victims of trafficking and refugees. Links will be drawn to explain why Canada’s current border security and refugee system are ill-equipped to address these nefarious activities. The thesis proposes recommendations offered by Canadian experts in the field of migration policy and international security. However, implementations depend heavily on how receptive Canada’s general public is. The majority of Canadians are not aware that issues of human trafficking and smuggling and refugee are intertwined with border security, transnational organized crime, and now terrorist groups.