FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Italian Authorities Arrest 16 Suspected Traffickers From Migrant Boats in the Mediterranean

The men were rescued in international waters along with hundreds of migrants and brought to the port city last week. Testimony from the migrants helped police to identify the suspects, including the captain.
Photo by Italian Navy Press Office/EPA

Italian police have arrested 16 people suspected of trafficking migrants across the Mediterranean from Libya, after a week in which thousands were rescued and hundreds drowned trying to make the journey.

Police in Catania, Sicily, said in a statement on Tuesday they had detained 16 men who were rescued in international waters along with hundreds of migrants and brought to the port city on May 28.

On arrival, testimony from the migrants helped police identify a Gambian man believed to have captained one of the boats from Libya, and 15 others who were thought to have helped run the journey.

Advertisement

The suspects arrived in Catania with more than 860 others who had been rescued in five different operations, police told a news conference.

As Europe's worst migration crisis since World War Two continues, more than 2,500 people are thought to have died this year after being packed into rickety boats by traffickers. Last week alone 700 migrants may have died at sea, in the busiest week of migrant crossings from Libya towards Italy this year, according to figures released by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the UN Refugee agency on Sunday.

Related: At Least 700 Migrants Died in the Mediterranean Trying to Get to Europe Last Week

The unseaworthy boats sank on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday south of Italy as the migrants tried to reach Europe. The number of dead can only be estimated based on survivor testimony, which is still being collected. About 14,000 people have been rescued since May 23.

The migrants — fleeing wars, oppression and poverty — often do not know how to swim and do not have life jackets. They pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to make the crossing from Libya to Italy, by far the most dangerous border passage for migrants in the world.

This week's arrivals included Eritreans, Sudanese, Nigerians and many other West Africans, humanitarian groups say. Despite the surge this week, as of Friday 40,660 arrivals had been counted, 2 percent fewer than the same period of last year, the Interior Ministry said.

Advertisement

Most of the migrants who arrive in Italy looking for a better life in Europe come from sub-Saharan Africa via Libya, where criminal gangs have taken advantage of the breakdown of order to set up a lucrative trafficking business.

Related: African Migrants in Libya Face Kidnapping, Torture, and Robbery on Smuggling Route to Europe

The migrants arriving in Catania said they had been taken to a site near the western Libyan cities of Sabratha and Zuwarah, where they stayed for up to 45 days while the traffickers kept watch over them and fed them once a day. They were then charged the equivalent of 500-1,000 euros ($557-$1,115) for the journey. None of the migrants were given life jackets, but all the suspected traffickers wore them.

Police suspect the group had contacts in Sicily to help organize the next phase of the migrants' journey. Most people who come to southern Italy want to head to stronger economies in northern Europe where they expect more opportunities.

Follow VICE News on Twitter: @vicenews