traffickers

• Italy
• United Kingdom
• Vietnam

The migrants were found dead in a refrigerated truck in the United Kingdom in 2019.

• Portugal

Farm laborers from Asia flock to the European country known for its booming agricultural exports. The workers are often brought by gangs of traffickers and are forced to endure inhumane living conditions.

• European Union

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.

• Italy

The Save the Children organization has said that there are at least 1,660 victims of human trafficking in Italy, with ever more minors falling victim to the phenomenon.

• France

The EU border agency Frontex has denied having documented any "collusion" between NGOs and human traffickers. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner had claimed earlier in the week that Frontex knew of NGOs aiding smugglers.

• Bangladesh
• Germany
• Greece

A court in Berlin has sentenced two people, living in Greece and accused of trafficking minors, to almost two years on probation. The Asian couple, however, only played a small role in a major trafficking ring, the court found.

• France
• Slovenia

Fifteen migrants, including an 11-year-old boy, were discovered in poor health condition inside a horse van inside which they had traveled from Slovenia to France.

• Italy
• Libya

The crime of people smuggling carries a penalty of 5 to 15 years in prison and high fines. But usually, the people sent to prison are migrants who claim they were forced to navigate the Mediterranean by Libyan gangs who evade capture.

• Nigeria

Children account for at least 28% of human trafficking victims worldwide, a percentage that rises to between 62 to 64% in regions including sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. UNICEF says that refugee children are especially vulnerable to trafficking.

• Italy

Contrary to popular belief, the people smugglers who bring migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe aren’t generally part of vast, organised, "Mafia-like" networks. More often than not, they act as “independent traders" in an extremely competitive field, according to a study on the business of illegal border crossings by the University of Cambridge.

• Spain

A sharp uptick in boats arriving off the shores of Spain was seen over the weekend. About 400 migrants arrived onboard about 20 boats on the coasts of Andalusia, the island of Mallorca and the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa.

• Niger

Many African migrants from Sub-Sahara travel through the Sahara desert and North Africa on the way to Europe. They often face the danger of being abandoned in the hot desert by human smugglers. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the desert is the much bigger cemetery than the Mediterranean Sea.