Cooperation and coordination between law enforcement, judicial authorities, and international partners are key to the fight against migrant smuggling, just as it is necessary to uphold human-rights standards in all actions to counter it. This is the key message of the third International Conference on migrant smuggling which ended today in Strasbourg and brought together senior officials, prosecutors, policymakers, and experts from international organisations and civil society. The meeting was convened by the Council of Europe Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) and the Council of Europe Division on Migration and Refugees (DMR). In his speech, Michael O’Flaherty, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, called for efforts to ensure that human rights considerations remain central. According to him, there are risks related to externalised border control and “the criminalisation of humanitarian activity” is a bad practice “that has got to stop”. The Commissioner further called for efforts to expand safe and legal migration pathways, which is “the best way to bring about a significant reduction in irregular migration”. A Recommendation is being prepared by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on deterring and combating migrant smuggling. This topic was also addressed by Gianluca Esposito, Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe, who encouraged Member States to “make full use of the Organisation’s robust legal architecture to tackle migrant smuggling”.