Behind Lampedusa shipwreck: a journey of perils and profits

“…Three times as many migrants have made the dangerous journey as in 2012, says EU border agency Frontex. At least 190,000 migrants arrived in Lampedusa alone between 2001 and 2011, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Human-rights groups estimate as many as 10% of all boats departing from Libya are lost at sea. The demand for migrant-smuggling services is so high that at key transit points, such as Agadez in Niger, scores of travel agents provide information about smugglers, while smugglers openly advertise their services in some African refugee camps, according to a new report that Altai Consulting, a firm specializing in migration and security research, conducted for the U.N….”