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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The UNHCR is expanding its humanitarian programs in Libya. A new predeparture camp is being built for migrants on the Greek island of Chios and migrants have brought in almost 4 billion Euros in the past six years for traffickers. All this and more in today's news roundup.
In 2017, nearly 50 percent of migrant sea rescues were carried out by voluntary groups like Save the Children or Doctors without Borders. However, the trend is impeding the fight against criminal organizations, a Catania prosecutor warns.
Increased European efforts to rescue people at sea have resulted in a worsening situation. As rescuers wait offshore, unscrupulous human traffickers create more perilous situations for refugees.