‘Travel agents of death’
by Vincenzina Santoro, MercatorNet:
Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano recently called attention to the effects resulting from the thousands of desperate migrants crossing the central Mediterranean in unseaworthy vessels from Libya and streaming into Italian ports.
These voyagers come mostly from some of the poorest and most corrupt countries of sub-Saharan Africa. They pay thousands of dollars to smugglers who have established a migratory route through several countries, complete with safe houses and collection points for payments migrants must make along their journey. Mr Alfano has labeled these illicit operators as “travel agents of death.”
Given the extremely poor conditions and overcrowding of some of the fishing boats and rubber dinghies crossing the Mediterranean, many people drown at sea and never make it to the new Promised Land. But most are rescued and brought safely to an Italian destination. In the first six months of 2017 over 85,000 arrived into southern Italian ports, an increase of 19 percent over a year ago. In 2016 alone Italy received an influx of 181,405. At the beginning of this year there were over 5 million foreign citizens residing in Italy.
A record number — 5,000 migrants — are believed to have perished during a Mediterranean journey in 2016. Italy also receives the cadavers recouped at sea and must try to identify and bury them. Over 2,000 dead bodies arrived in between January and June of this year.
A single day’s account illustrates the severity of the problem.
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