Militarization of Smuggling in Libya Means More Business
A new report says small players in Libya’s people-smuggling market are being squeezed out, while the role of militias is changing the shape of the networks.
Bigger players with access to military means are making smuggling more efficient, according to the report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
“The militarization of the activity is squeezing small-timers out of the business and concentrating smuggling activities in the hands of fewer, well organized criminal networks,” the report says.
The new efficiency is expanding capacity and leading to a lot more “business” through the central Mediterranean, Global Initiative found.
“There are clear signs some networks have developed into transnational consortia, able to handle routes and volumes of people requiring substantial logistical and financial capacity,” the report’s author, Mark Micallef, concluded.
Micallef calls for more targeted efforts at a local level in Libya to isolate smuggling networks and warns that short-term actions by international players may further destabilize Libya.
Swedish Police Chief Feels ‘Shame’ over Asylum Law
A Swedish police chief has spoken of her shame at the country’s asylum policies. In a viral Facebook post she recounted telling an Ethiopian girl she was being deported.
Lena Matthijs, police chief in Alvsborg, western Sweden, had to tell the 17-year-old, who has lived in the country for four years and speaks Swedish, that she had to leave.
“I feel great shame. Shame for belonging to the state establishment that decided to deport a 17-year-old girl to Ethiopia after four years in Sweden because her homeland is judged not to be sufficiently dangerous or miserable,” the post begins.
“I gave her the decision in my role as her legal guardian. All doors are now closed. She will be out of the country before the school term starts in the autumn.”
Matthijs goes on to attack a system that, she says, lets criminal and potentially dangerous people stay in Sweden because their homelands are considered dangerous, but forces out integrated teenagers whose countries are judged safe.
Sweden has the largest volume of asylum applications per capita in Europe and has recently sought to tighten its refugee and asylum laws. It has also launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants and increased the number of repatriations and deportations it undertakes.
Far-Right Group Sends Ship to Disrupt Search-and-Rescue off Libya
A European far-right group has sent a ship to waters off Libya to interfere with rescue missions. The 422-ton vessel with 25 crew aims to disrupt charity boats picking up migrants.
The organization, calling itself Defend Europe, used crowdfunding to pay for the vessel. It claims to want to monitor the activities of NGOs and document alleged collusion with smugglers.
“The closing of the Mediterranean route is the only way to Defend Europe and save lives,” the group says on its website.
Defend Europe made a failed attempt to block a vessel from the medical charity Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres in May. It used the ensuing publicity to raise funds for a new mission.
Joe Mulhall, senior researcher at advocacy group Hope Not Hate, told the Independent: “Should they do what they’ve been planning to do for the past few months, they’ll be getting in the way of genuine lifesaving efforts.”
“The fact of the matter is that there’s no question that a bunch of far-right activists on a large ship getting in the way for NGOs trying to save lives will be putting lives at risk,” he added.
Recommended Reads
- The Guardian: The Fight to Stop Mediterranean People-Smuggling Starts on Land, Not at Sea
- The New York Times: A Refugee Family Arrives in Arkansas, Before the Door Shuts
- Politico: For a Few Refugees, Safe Passage to Europe
- The Cato Institute: Heritage Report Shows Refugees Are Not a Major Threat