Saturday, May 09, 2015

The deadly business of migrant smuggling...

Thousands have died on the perilous journey from Africa to Europe and with every boat that leaves Africa's shores, the situation gets worse. The migrants, who want a better shot at life in Europe, are risking their lives because legal channels just are not open to them.

Their misery creates an illicit market for people smugglers - with millions in profits taken in, often for the ultimate price. It is estimated that the human trafficking industry as a whole produces almost $26bn a year. Smuggling is part of that - though not typically a part which would continue to exploit people in the way human trafficking does.

Most journeys happen across the Mediterranean Sea - with more than 200,000 crossings and over 3,000 deaths in 2014. But it is a global phenomenon, and it happens in the Gulf of Aden, the Bay of Bengal, and over in the Caribbean Sea too in significant numbers.

Technology is exacerbating the problem. Some of the smugglers are openly advertising their services on Facebook. The Financial Times managed to snap an add before it was removed. A trip to Italy can cost $1,000, but if you are travelling from, say, Sudan to Libya, first of all you pay another $1,700 on top of that. There was a WhatsApp and Viber contact available. More + video...

Related posts:
  1. 'Living risk to risk': the new wave of African migrants deported from Israel...
  2. Modern slavery in Australia: Investigation reveals labour exploitation rife in...
  3. Slave trade booms in Dark Triangle...
  4. Death in the Mediterranean...
  5. Attempt to smuggle Ivory Coast boy, 8, across border inside suitcase...

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