A new report has placed a spotlight on the migrant smuggling business and other illicit activities running through the Western Balkans, including drugs and money laundering. The report estimates that the migrant smuggling business alone could be worth up to €50 million per year in the region.
More than 2,000 migrants have arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa over the past two days. Many are from Bangladesh, where myths spread about Europe lead tens of thousands of people to embark on deadly journeys.
Lebanese police say they have again prevented dozens of Syrians from reaching Cyprus by sea. Over the past year, there have been numerous attempts to smuggle migrants to the small EU member state.
The Greek coast guard says it has picked up nearly 170 migrants near the Peloponnese peninsula. People smugglers operating between Turkey and Greece often put migrants on unseaworthy boats.
Migrant smuggling is a global crime that exposes migrants to life-threatening risks. The EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum puts preventing and combating smuggling at the center of its comprehensive approach to migration.
Lebanese troops have foiled an attempt to smuggle dozens of Syrian migrants to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, according to the military. There have been numerous attempts over the past year to smuggle migrants to EU member Cyprus, some of them deadly.
A Slovenian woman was arrested by Italian police in border city of Trieste this week. She allegedly drove five immigrants from Slovenia to Italy in exchange for 1,500 euros.
Police in northern Greece have arrested 13 people accused of migrant smuggling. The men reportedly abducted and tortured migrants as young as 16 years old.
Spanish police say they have rounded up 20 people accused of smuggling migrants through Spain's overseas Ceuta enclave. The "organized crime group" is also accused of murdering four people who drowned during an attempted sea crossing in February.
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.
The UN migration agency IOM says the death toll has risen to 42 after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti. Sixteen children were among the dead.
An alleged migrant smuggler in Libya has been released four months after his arrest in Tripoli. Abdel-Rahman Al-Milad had been accused of involvement in trafficking and abuse of migrants and refugees.