&nbsp;An Eritrean whistleblower has enabled Italian authorities to arrest a slew of people smugglers in a nationwide dragnet, police said Monday.

&quot;A dangerous criminal network dedicated to migrant trafficking has been dismantled, no respite for dealers in death,&quot; Interior minister Angelino Alfano tweeted on Sunday in welcoming the arrest of 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian on suspicion of smuggling thousands of migrants.

The group were detained in coordinated swoops in Rome, Northern Italy and Sicily after the 32-year-old Eritrean, arrested in Sicily in 2014, agreed to collaborate in return for official protection.

&quot;I decided to cooperate because there have been too many deaths,&quot; authorities quoted the man as saying, adding that thousands of refugees who have drowned attempting to make perilous Mediterranean crossings comprise only a &quot;small fraction&quot; of the overall death toll.

For the first time, Italian authorities were able to learn from the whistleblower a detailed description of the traffickers, based in North Africa, Italy and other European countries, and their activities, police said.

The Eritrean gave harrowing details of how traffickers would not hesitate to kill migrants lacking sufficient funds to pay their passage and sell their organs &quot;to Egyptian traffickers&quot;, Italian media reported the man as telling investigators.

Italian officials said the Eritrean had revealed the smugglers were also importing khat, a drug traditionally largely grown in the Horn of Africa, and organising bogus marriages for refugees.

A police raid on a Rome apartment last month as part of their investigations into the traffickers turned up a cash pile of 526,000 Euros ($585,000) and $25,000 as well as a detailed register of the group&#39;s activities.

The largest migrant crisis Europe has seen since World War II has seen more than 10,000 migrants perish since 2014, including more than 2,800 so far this year, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said last month.

The closure of the Balkan route earlier this has sparked an increase in people risking perilous sea crossings via the Central Mediterranean to Italy. 
 
(AFP)

The former smuggler said traffickers wouldn't hesitate to kill and sell the organs of migrants lacking the funds to pay their passage

An Eritrean whistleblower has enabled Italian authorities to arrest a slew of people smugglers in a nationwide dragnet, police said Monday. "A dangerous criminal network dedicated to migrant trafficking has been dismantled, no respite for dealers in death," Interior minister Angelino Alfano tweeted on Sunday in welcoming the arrest of 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian on suspicion of smuggling thousands of migrants. The group were detained in coordinated swoops in Rome, Northern Italy and Sicily after the 32-year-old Eritrean, arrested in Sicily in 2014, agreed to collaborate in return for official protection. "I decided to cooperate because there have been too many deaths," authorities quoted the man as saying, adding that thousands of refugees who have drowned attempting to make perilous Mediterranean crossings comprise only a "small fraction" of the overall death toll. For the first time, Italian authorities were able to learn from the whistleblower a detailed description of the traffickers, based in North Africa, Italy and other European countries, and their activities, police said. The Eritrean gave harrowing details of how traffickers would not hesitate to kill migrants lacking sufficient funds to pay their passage and sell their organs "to Egyptian traffickers", Italian media reported the man as telling investigators. Italian officials said the Eritrean had revealed the smugglers were also importing khat, a drug traditionally largely grown in the Horn of Africa, and organising bogus marriages for refugees. A police raid on a Rome apartment last month as part of their investigations into the traffickers turned up a cash pile of 526,000 Euros ($585,000) and $25,000 as well as a detailed register of the group's activities. The largest migrant crisis Europe has seen since World War II has seen more than 10,000 migrants perish since 2014, including more than 2,800 so far this year, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said last month. The closure of the Balkan route earlier this has sparked an increase in people risking perilous sea crossings via the Central Mediterranean to Italy. (AFP)

Whistleblower helps Italy makes arrests in migrant trafficking ring

At least 10 people died after an inflatable dinghy loaded with migrants began sinking in the Mediterranean on Thursday, the Italian coastguard said. 
 
The coastguard said on Twitter that 107 people had been rescued from the stricken vessel and 10 bodies had been recovered. 
 
It was possible the final death toll could be higher as dinghies used by people smugglers often carry up to 140 people. 
 
A total of 116 people were safely picked up in a separate operation in waters between Sicily and Libya on Thursday, the coastguard said. 
 
The latest rescues will lift to more than 13,700 people the number of asylum seekers and migrants brought to Italian ports in just over a week as smugglers seek to take advantage of the current fine weather and calm sea conditions. 
 
More than 64,000 people have landed at Italian ports since the start of the year, most of them from sub-Saharan Africa, according to a tally by the UN refugee agency which does not include the latest arrivals. 
 
The latest deaths came as Italian authorities prepared to begin removing the remains of hundreds of corpses from a salvaged fishing boat which sank off Libya last year in the deadliest disaster of the migrant crisis. 
 
The boat, in which up to 800 people are feared to have died, was raised from the seabed on Monday and towed to the Sicilian port of Augusta. 
 
Italian Prime Minsiter Matteo Renzi has vowed to give all of the victims decent burials as a way of highlighting the human cost of trafficking. 
 
(AFP)

UNHCR says about 64,000 people have landed at Italian ports since the start of the year and most of them are from sub-Saharan Africa

At least 10 people died after an inflatable dinghy loaded with migrants began sinking in the Mediterranean on Thursday, the Italian coastguard said. The coastguard said on Twitter that 107 people had been rescued from the stricken vessel and 10 bodies had been recovered. It was possible the final death toll could be higher as dinghies used by people smugglers often carry up to 140 people. A total of 116 people were safely picked up in a separate operation in waters between Sicily and Libya on Thursday, the coastguard said. The latest rescues will lift to more than 13,700 people the number of asylum seekers and migrants brought to Italian ports in just over a week as smugglers seek to take advantage of the current fine weather and calm sea conditions. More than 64,000 people have landed at Italian ports since the start of the year, most of them from sub-Saharan Africa, according to a tally by the UN refugee agency which does not include the latest arrivals. The latest deaths came as Italian authorities prepared to begin removing the remains of hundreds of corpses from a salvaged fishing boat which sank off Libya last year in the deadliest disaster of the migrant crisis. The boat, in which up to 800 people are feared to have died, was raised from the seabed on Monday and towed to the Sicilian port of Augusta. Italian Prime Minsiter Matteo Renzi has vowed to give all of the victims decent burials as a way of highlighting the human cost of trafficking. (AFP)

At least 10 dead on sinking migrant boat: Italian coastguard

Ship crew members&nbsp;pulled more than 2,000 migrants from overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean today, Italy&#39;s coastguard said, as people smugglers stepped up operations during two consecutive days of good weather.

More than 7,100 people have now been rescued&nbsp;from international waters since Thursday, many of them on the dangerous journey from Libya.

Europe&#39;s worst immigration crisis since World War II&nbsp;is in its third year, and there has been little sign of any let up of the flow of people coming from North Africa&nbsp;to Italy since last year.

Ships belonging to Doctors without Borders, Migrant Offshore Aid Station, Italy&#39;s navy, the European Union&#39;s border agency Frontex, and the bloc&#39;s anti-people-smuggling mission Sophia, all helped take the migrants off nine boats today.

About 60,000 boat migrants have been brought to Italy so far this year, according to the interior ministry. 
 
(Reuters)

About 60,000 boat migrants have been brought to Italy this year alone, often from Libya

Ship crew members pulled more than 2,000 migrants from overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean today, Italy's coastguard said, as people smugglers stepped up operations during two consecutive days of good weather. More than 7,100 people have now been rescued from international waters since Thursday, many of them on the dangerous journey from Libya. Europe's worst immigration crisis since World War II is in its third year, and there has been little sign of any let up of the flow of people coming from North Africa to Italy since last year. Ships belonging to Doctors without Borders, Migrant Offshore Aid Station, Italy's navy, the European Union's border agency Frontex, and the bloc's anti-people-smuggling mission Sophia, all helped take the migrants off nine boats today. About 60,000 boat migrants have been brought to Italy so far this year, according to the interior ministry. (Reuters)

More than 2,000 migrants rescued from Mediterranean today

Sri Lankan migrants who were stranded on a boat off Indonesia were allowed to come ashore on Saturday, easing a tense stand-off with local authorities that drew international condemnation. 
 
The 44 migrants, who include many women and children, had been stuck on a boat off Aceh province for a week as authorities in the western province refused to allow them to disembark. 
 
But Indonesian officials gave way on Saturday&nbsp;and allowed the migrants -- who were adrift after their Indian-flagged vessel broke down en route to Australia -- to take refuge in tents set up along the beach. 
 
Police had begun taking photographs of those brought ashore in a bid to establish identities, an AFP journalist at the scene said. 
 
Authorities had previously said the boat would be towed out to international waters to continue on its journey after repairs were completed and the weather improved. 
 
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla had ordered Aceh officials to allow the migrants to disembark the vessel, which washed up by a beach in the town of Lhoknga. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re happy to see that is finally being implemented,&quot; said Lilianne Fan, international director of Aceh NGO the Geutanyoe Foundation, whose team on the ground witnessed the disembarkation. 
 
&quot;At this point the most urgent thing from our point of view is that immediate access is given to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees),&quot; Fan added. 
 
The week-long impasse boiled over&nbsp;Thursday&nbsp;when police fired a warning shot to disperse a crowd that had swarmed around the vessel. 
 
Amnesty International accused local authorities of employing &quot;crude intimidation tactics&quot; against the migrants, and called for UN refugee teams in Aceh to be granted immediate access to the group. 
 
&quot;The immigration office and security forces in Aceh are flouting the authority of their own Vice President and not letting the UNHCR do its job,&quot; Josef Benedict of Amnesty International said in a statement. 
 
Hundreds of Myanmar Rohingya came ashore in Aceh last year during a regional boat people crisis and were warmly welcomed by residents of the staunchly Islamic province, who felt sympathy for their plight as a persecuted Muslim minority. 
(AFP)

International condemnation was piled on local authorities, who for a week kept many women and children adrift

Sri Lankan migrants who were stranded on a boat off Indonesia were allowed to come ashore on Saturday, easing a tense stand-off with local authorities that drew international condemnation. The 44 migrants, who include many women and children, had been stuck on a boat off Aceh province for a week as authorities in the western province refused to allow them to disembark. But Indonesian officials gave way on Saturday and allowed the migrants -- who were adrift after their Indian-flagged vessel broke down en route to Australia -- to take refuge in tents set up along the beach. Police had begun taking photographs of those brought ashore in a bid to establish identities, an AFP journalist at the scene said. Authorities had previously said the boat would be towed out to international waters to continue on its journey after repairs were completed and the weather improved. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla had ordered Aceh officials to allow the migrants to disembark the vessel, which washed up by a beach in the town of Lhoknga. "We're happy to see that is finally being implemented," said Lilianne Fan, international director of Aceh NGO the Geutanyoe Foundation, whose team on the ground witnessed the disembarkation. "At this point the most urgent thing from our point of view is that immediate access is given to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)," Fan added. The week-long impasse boiled over Thursday when police fired a warning shot to disperse a crowd that had swarmed around the vessel. Amnesty International accused local authorities of employing "crude intimidation tactics" against the migrants, and called for UN refugee teams in Aceh to be granted immediate access to the group. "The immigration office and security forces in Aceh are flouting the authority of their own Vice President and not letting the UNHCR do its job," Josef Benedict of Amnesty International said in a statement. Hundreds of Myanmar Rohingya came ashore in Aceh last year during a regional boat people crisis and were warmly welcomed by residents of the staunchly Islamic province, who felt sympathy for their plight as a persecuted Muslim minority. (AFP)

Migrants in Indonesia stranded for days on boat finally brought ashore

The bodies of 34 migrants, including 20 children, who were abandoned by people smugglers while trying to reach neighbouring Algeria were found in the Niger desert last week, authorities said today. 
 
&quot;Thirty-four people, including five men, nine women and 20 children died trying to cross the desert,&quot; Niger`s interior ministry said in a statement. 
 
&quot;They probably died of thirst, as is often the case, and they were found near Assamaka,&quot; a security source told AFP, referring to a border post between Niger and Algeria. 
 
&quot;(The migrants) were abandoned by people smugglers,&quot; the statement added, and only two of the bodies have so far been identified -- a man and a 26-year-old woman both from Niger.&nbsp; 
 
Temperatures in the region can reach a brutal 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit), with blinding sandstorms tearing across the desert. 
 
The hostile conditions mean that only a fraction of those who die trying to cross the area are ever found. 
 
Thousands of illegal migrants have arrived in Algeria in recent years, mostly from neighbouring Mali and Niger. 
 
Libya used to play host to the majority of migrants in sub-Saharan Africa, but since that country descended into chaos following the ousting of Moamer Kadhafi, Algeria has become the main destination for the region`s migrants. 
 
Many transit through Algeria headed for Europe, but more than 7,000 migrants from Niger, mostly women and children, were returned to their home country in 2015 as part of an agreement between the two countries` governments. 
 
Europe has recently turned its attention to trying to curb the number of illegal arrivals from Africa, after a deal with Ankara in March slashed the number of people trying to cross from Turkey. 
 
More than 2,814 people have drowned trying to reach Europe since January, according to the UN refugee agency, prompting urgent efforts to tackle the problem. 
 
A new proposal mooted last week involves using &nbsp;EU funds to promote &nbsp;private investment of up to 60 billion euros ($68 billion) in countries where many migrants come from -- Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal, as well as Jordan and Lebanon. 
 
The European Commission also wants to speed up readmission deals with African countries, and with Pakistan and Afghanistan, to make it easier to send back people who do not win refugee status. 
 
The Commission is also set to unveil a plan for a &quot;blue card&quot; system for skilled migrants to come to Europe legally. 
 
The aim is to reduce the incentive for people to try to smuggle themselves into the continent on flimsy boats and put their lives at risk. 
(AFP)

Officials say they were trying to get to neighbouring Algeria, were abandoned by human smugglers

The bodies of 34 migrants, including 20 children, who were abandoned by people smugglers while trying to reach neighbouring Algeria were found in the Niger desert last week, authorities said today. "Thirty-four people, including five men, nine women and 20 children died trying to cross the desert," Niger`s interior ministry said in a statement. "They probably died of thirst, as is often the case, and they were found near Assamaka," a security source told AFP, referring to a border post between Niger and Algeria. "(The migrants) were abandoned by people smugglers," the statement added, and only two of the bodies have so far been identified -- a man and a 26-year-old woman both from Niger. Temperatures in the region can reach a brutal 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit), with blinding sandstorms tearing across the desert. The hostile conditions mean that only a fraction of those who die trying to cross the area are ever found. Thousands of illegal migrants have arrived in Algeria in recent years, mostly from neighbouring Mali and Niger. Libya used to play host to the majority of migrants in sub-Saharan Africa, but since that country descended into chaos following the ousting of Moamer Kadhafi, Algeria has become the main destination for the region`s migrants. Many transit through Algeria headed for Europe, but more than 7,000 migrants from Niger, mostly women and children, were returned to their home country in 2015 as part of an agreement between the two countries` governments. Europe has recently turned its attention to trying to curb the number of illegal arrivals from Africa, after a deal with Ankara in March slashed the number of people trying to cross from Turkey. More than 2,814 people have drowned trying to reach Europe since January, according to the UN refugee agency, prompting urgent efforts to tackle the problem. A new proposal mooted last week involves using EU funds to promote private investment of up to 60 billion euros ($68 billion) in countries where many migrants come from -- Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal, as well as Jordan and Lebanon. The European Commission also wants to speed up readmission deals with African countries, and with Pakistan and Afghanistan, to make it easier to send back people who do not win refugee status. The Commission is also set to unveil a plan for a "blue card" system for skilled migrants to come to Europe legally. The aim is to reduce the incentive for people to try to smuggle themselves into the continent on flimsy boats and put their lives at risk. (AFP)

34 migrants, including 20 children, found dead in Niger desert

New migrant centres set up to house migrants transferred from the Greek border camp of Idomeni do not meet international standards, a human rights monitor said today. 
 
Tineke Strik of the Council of Europe gave her assessment after visiting three new reception and registration centres in the northern city of Thessaloniki. 
 
&quot;I am impressed by what the Greek authorities have done in such a short space of time to create new facilities for the people from Idomeni,&quot; said Strik, migration rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Strasbourg-based Council. 
 
&quot;However, this has been a missed opportunity to create decent facilities that meet international standards. In the places that I visited, there was no privacy, no fire safety, no light and no ventilation and people have no information on their situation or their prospects,&quot; she added. 
 
Strik, a Dutch deputy, visited the new centres on former industrial sites on Sunday and remains in Greece with a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly visiting several refugee camps in Athens and on the island of Lesbos today and on Tuesday. 
 
Up to 12,000 migrants found themselves blocked in the Idomeni camp, on the Greece-Macedonia border, after the migrant route north through the Balkans was closed down at the start of March. 
 
Many of those transferred to Thessaloniki &quot;are hoping to be reunited with family members already in other European countries,&quot; said Strik. 
 
&quot;Their psychological well-being will depend on the rapid completion of the pre-registration process and the ability to exercise their right to apply for asylum,&quot; she added.

Greek migrant centers not up to International standards

New migrant centres set up to house migrants transferred from the Greek border camp of Idomeni do not meet international standards, a human rights monitor said today. Tineke Strik of the Council of Europe gave her assessment after visiting three new reception and registration centres in the northern city of Thessaloniki. "I am impressed by what the Greek authorities have done in such a short space of time to create new facilities for the people from Idomeni," said Strik, migration rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Strasbourg-based Council. "However, this has been a missed opportunity to create decent facilities that meet international standards. In the places that I visited, there was no privacy, no fire safety, no light and no ventilation and people have no information on their situation or their prospects," she added. Strik, a Dutch deputy, visited the new centres on former industrial sites on Sunday and remains in Greece with a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly visiting several refugee camps in Athens and on the island of Lesbos today and on Tuesday. Up to 12,000 migrants found themselves blocked in the Idomeni camp, on the Greece-Macedonia border, after the migrant route north through the Balkans was closed down at the start of March. Many of those transferred to Thessaloniki "are hoping to be reunited with family members already in other European countries," said Strik. "Their psychological well-being will depend on the rapid completion of the pre-registration process and the ability to exercise their right to apply for asylum," she added.

Human rights monitor blasts new Greek migrant centres

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