‘Migrants for Sale’: An Investigation into the Clandestine Migrant Smuggling Economy on the Mediterranean Route – Part 2

Amina Muhammad, a Kurdish woman from Kobani, tried to join her husband in Germany, but their reunification request was rejected. That is why she chose the irregular route via Libya and the Mediterranean Sea, with some family members. A smuggler held them in a crowded house in Tripoli for six months, along with other migrants bound for Europe, providing little food until an opportunity arose for a sea crossing.

Until a departure by sea can be organized, migrants may be held in so-called connection houses or connection farms. Here, women in particular can become victims of sexual violence, warned Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesperson for the International Organization (IOM) for its Coordination Office for the Mediterranean.

In one incident, the boat Amina was in hit water and they were forced to return to the smuggler’s compound house. Three days later they were promised a trip to the Italian island of Lampedusa, but instead Amina said they were taken to the northwestern town of Zawiya and sold to other smugglers. The new smugglers stopped the men, stripped them naked and took all their money and belongings. Some men who had wives and children were released.

“They did that so they could each demand $1,500 for their release,” Amina said InfoMigrants. “There were four of our young relatives, all minors. They imprisoned them and released them after ten days in exchange for $1,500 each.”

During her third attempt, Amina was at sea for 12 hours before she was intercepted by the Libyan coast guard and sent to a prison along with other female migrants. This time all the women were stripped naked and all their money and belongings were stolen by the prison authorities. She was released two weeks later, but after only 30 minutes at sea she was intercepted again by the Libyan coast guard. This time she was sent to the infamous Abu Salim for 13 days, after which she had to look for new smugglers to facilitate her final crossing to Europe. Abu Salim is an administrative detention center operated by the Tripoli Ministry of the Interior and the Department for Combating Illegal Immigration (DCIM).

‘Smuggling does not happen without corruption’

Migrant smuggling across the Mediterranean has become an illicit economy, orchestrated by organized crime groups in Libya and facilitated by various corrupt actors, including government agencies, police officers, military personnel and militias. Both the country’s eastern and western leaders are exploiting the vulnerabilities of migrants fleeing war and hardship for personal financial gain. Illegal migrants traveling to Europe cannot navigate Libya without the help of smugglers.

“Smuggling does not happen without corruption – we see corruption at every level,” said Claire Healy, investigative officer at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and coordinator of the Migrant Smuggling Observatory. “The demand to use a smuggler is always there because people see that they cannot make the journey without paying bribes,” she said. InfoMigrants. One of the services smugglers provide is paying the bribes on behalf of the migrants, so they can negotiate a slightly lower bribe, or arrange for someone to actually be released from detention, Healy said.

Armed smugglers at departure points in Libya, such as Sabratha, facilitate irregular crossings across the Mediterranean in small, rickety ships – despite being promised much larger vessels. Several migrants on board the Geo Barents told the story InfoMigrants that they were confronted with a gun in their face, after telling the smugglers that they were too afraid to board the unseaworthy boat and instead wanted to return to their home country, telling the smugglers that they were allowed to keep the money.

“Even if migrants change their minds before they leave, they cannot. Once you pay, you can’t go back. This is the rule,” emphasizes Di Giacomo of IOM. “They (the smugglers) are not interested in the migrants arriving in Europe. It doesn’t really matter to them. They put them on the boat, they leave, they get the money. That’s it. If you give trouble, they’ll kill you along the way. beach – and women are especially victims of sexual violence,” he said.

Outsourcing the interception of migrants at sea

Individuals, families with children and pregnant women may cross the Mediterranean countless times as they are repeatedly intercepted by the EU-backed Libyan coastguard and imprisoned until they can free themselves from the Mediterranean – creating a lucrative and cyclical industry arises in which various actors, including public authorities, benefit from border control mechanisms.

In interviews, some migrants said InfoMigrants that the partially EU-funded Libyan coastguard would accept bribes from migrants and smugglers in exchange for not intercepting them in the Mediterranean.

Asked whether the IOM has officially registered such cases, Giaccomi replied: “Honestly, no. A lot of things can happen in Libya, so…money can probably pay for a lot of things, but I don’t know if these kinds of things happen. “

Frontex, the European Union’s border control agency, refused InfoMigrants request an interview.

‘Without demand there is no supply’

UNODC’s Healy warns against falling into the political narrative that migration must be curbed because it fuels the human smuggling industry.

“Based on our research, there is very rarely a situation where the smuggler convinces someone to be smuggled to make the journey. In Syria, across Africa and South Asia, people have extremely strong motivations to leave and are actively looking for a smuggler.” Healy said. “So it is not the case that the smuggler targets people and convinces them to go.” Migrants seek out smugglers based on their migration goals, whether they are displaced persons or war refugees, Healy said.

“The problem with the smuggling market in Libya is that it is different from other countries. You simply cannot smuggle there without having contact with local smugglers or armed groups,” she explained.

To combat the human smuggling industry, the endemic system of corruption that pervades Libya and the Mediterranean route must first be tackled.

“Again, smuggling can’t happen without corruption – that’s just not mentioned enough. Sometimes we target the wrong people in a way. If we really want to stop smuggling, corruption is one.” The second, according to Healy, is market-driven: there is a very strong demand for smuggling.

“Even if you try to dismantle a network, the demand for smuggling still exists and that is related to the fact that for some people, such as Syrians, Sudanese, etc., there is no option to travel regularly.” she said, emphasizing the need to establish safer, faster and regular routes.

*This series is based on a survey conducted between February and May 2024 in Germany, Italy and the Central Mediterranean. The research included a period aboard the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) search and rescue ship Geo Barents from January 30 to February 10. InfoMigrants was unable to independently verify migrants’ personal testimonies.