People smuggling


Europol report hails 'success' against people smuggling despite more refugees dying than ever before

Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol said more than 90 per cent of migrants entering the EU have used smugglers.

“These organised crime networks are taking mass profits from mass migration, and making migrant smuggling the fastest growing criminal sector,” he added.

“To tackle this, we have brought together some of the best investigators in Europe in the EMSC.”

Almost 17,500 suspected migrant smugglers were identified in 2016 according to Europol’s report, which said that 1,150 social media accounts linked to the trade had been flagged alongside 12,000 “operational messages”, as well as 2,500 forged or stolen documents.

...A damning report by the Unravelling the Mediterranean Migration Crisis found European policy has so far been an “absolute failure”, with refugees continuing to use an array of the almost 100 different and constantly evolving routes to reach Europe.