Blocking the Trade in Mode 4 Services and Its Impacts on the Ongoing Refugee Crisis and Migrant Trafficking

Khorsed Zaman

 

ABSTRACT: This paper explores the nexus between recent terrifying human trafficking by sea, illegal attempts for migration and existent international law on trade in services. It examines the potentiality of reducing the number of this types of forced refugees through establishing an effective international system of temporary movement of natural persons under ‘Mode 4’ of the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It also investigates the existing GATS parameters on ‘Mode 4’ and shows how these rules in the present form are inefficient for producing better outcomes in liberalizing this sector. This paper argues that one of the main underlying reasons for the contemporary refugee crisis and migrant trafficking trade across sea is primarily poverty but it is largely attributable to highly restricted trade in labour-intensive services. Finally, it provides suggestions as to how liberalized movement of temporary and semi-skilled labour can take a positive role in reducing these human catastrophes of illegal migration by sea from poor developing countries.