People Smuggling in Sicily: Europe or Die

In June the European Union (EU) responded to the huge numbers of migrants and refugees dying on its borders by launching an 11.8 million euro ($) a year naval mission. EUNAVFOR Med was launched to tackle human trafficking from North Africa, a major contributor to the migration crisis that has claimed 2,000 lives in the Mediterranean in 2015 alone. But while the EU has declared war on traffickers in Libya and elsewhere, another trade is booming on its doorstep. Land smuggling preys on desperate people