Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

(Malakooti, 2015a). As such, migrant smuggling in Libya also reflects the
evolution and deepening of civil conflict in the country. For example, migrants
detained in Libya have reported that detention centre guards sometimes offer to
facilitate their release from detention if they purchase a boat journey to Europe
from a smuggler (Malakooti, 2013a; Frouws, 2014). Others also intimated that
some people were put on a boat straight from detention, without having paid a
smuggling fee (Malakooti, 2015a; Naik et al., 2015). Moreover, in April 2014, only
20 per cent of detention centres in Libya were reported to be official detention
centres by the Ministry of Interior (IOM, 2015a). Such insights suggest that there
may be State actors involved in smuggling in Libya and that non-State actors
have established migrant detention centres as a way to expand the market for
smuggling services.
Migrant smuggling in North Africa has traditionally been linked to
smuggling of other commodities, such as weapons, drugs and subsidized goods.
However, the United States Institute of Peace (Shaw and Mangan, 2014) has
identified an increase in the intermingling of migrant smuggling and drug
trafficking in recent years.
The economics of smuggling
Prior to 2014, journeys to North Africa and from North Africa to Europe
involved standard prices (Malakooti, 2013a). In 2014, however, the price of a
journey facilitated by a smuggler was dependent upon the nationality of the
migrant, the smuggling ring the migrant came into contact with in Libya, and
the level of service that the migrant was willing to pay for. Syrian refugees, for
example, paid higher prices than sub-Saharan Africans, and for higher price, a
migrant could secure a place on the top deck of the vessel and receive a life
jacket (Malakooti, 2015a).
While in 2013, the most expensive journeys were around USD 6,000
(Malakooti, 2013a), in 2014, they could be up to USD 20,000 (Malakooti, 2015a).
Prices increased when larger numbers of Syrians entered the market, as they
tend to have greater economic means when compared with sub-Saharan
Africans. The overall increase in traffic along North African routes in 2014 also
had an impact on prices. Migrant smuggling from the coast of Libya is estimated
to be worth between USD 255 to 323 million per year (GITNOC, 2015).
As most migrants do not have enough money for the entire journey
from the outset, many work in transit countries along the way. In some cases,
a smuggler might allow a migrant to continue the journey, even if they do not
have the requisite funds, on the promise that they will pay off their debt to the
Migrant Smuggling Data and Research:
A global review of the emerging evidence base
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