Short-term Wins, Long-term Risks: Human Trafficking and People Smuggling in the Mediterranean Area

The massive profits to be made on the migrant trade from Sub-Saharan Africa to Europe (which, according to EUROPOL, was valued at between €3 billion and €6 billion in 2016) has attracted criminal groups of other ilk, both in Africa and between Africa and Europe. The smuggling trade has proved a boon to counterfeiters, document fraudsters and to corrupt officials along all of the routes. Closing down the established routes from Niger to Libya has dispersed migrants across other territories, using and enabling networks across North Africa.