human traffickers

• Italy
• Libya
• Morocco

Human smugglers often subject migrants to extreme violence, torture, rape and kidnapping. Authorities take little action to persecute these crimes, according to a new report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

• Italy

The southern Italian region of Calabria has obtained about one million euros to fund a project to fight human trafficking as well as sexual and labor exploitation, begging, arranged marriages, organ trafficking.

• Vietnam

Rights groups have warned about increasing human trafficking as the pandemic pushes many vulnerable individuals to the brink. They say that despite closed borders, people are crossing illegally into China and Myanmar.

• Libya

Following the April 11 release of Bija, an alleged Libyan trafficker who has been accused of crimes against humanity by the UN, several migrants told InfoMigrants about their experiences at the hands of this feared boss of the Libyan coast guard in Zaouia.

• Turkey
• Greece
• Italy

A man sentenced to 25 years in prison in Greece for human trafficking was arrested in Italy this week. He reportedly smuggled migrants from Turkey to Greece.

• Italy
• Slovenia

Two Italian citizens have been sentenced to more than two years in prison on migrant trafficking charges. Police had found six migrants hidden in their car at the border between Croatia and Slovenia in September.

• United Kingdom
• Netherlands
• Belgium

"Traded Children" (Handelsware Kind) is a new documentary from Germany’s public broadcaster ARD / RBB. It investigates the story behind the trafficking of minors and young adults who are being regularly traded like goods from Vietnam to Europe.

• Vietnam
• United Kingdom

A British court has heard accounts from the families of 39 people who were found dead in the back of a lorry near London in October 2019. Four men convicted of manslaughter face possible life sentences.

• Vietnam
• United Kingdom

The pair were part of a gang of human traffickers who offered a "VIP" service to smuggle migrants into the UK. Prosecutors labelled them as "unscrupulous" and "greedy."

• Italy

A study carried out in Italy has found that only 3.4% of human trafficking cases are connected to other transnational crimes. The analysis presented on December 11 highlighted that this result makes it hard to justify stricter controls on migration flows based on the assumption that migrant trafficking leads to an increase in drug and arms trafficking.

• Italy
• Libya
• Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the route to Europe is known as "the game". With the help of a dalaal -- a travel agent -- many Bangladeshis hope to make it to a country where jobs are plentiful and they can earn money to send home. But now the international crime agency Interpol is seeking to crack down on the kingpin Bangladeshi smugglers in Libya and a warrant is out for their arrest.

• Libya

An armed group in Libya is reported to have kidnapped 60 migrants — including two dozen children — about two weeks ago. They are holding them hostage in "appalling living conditions," according to the latest statement from Doctors Without Borders (MSF).