Smuggling of people from Africa to Europe conducted by “independent traders,” not Mafia-like monopoly
Cambridge notes that overall, 292 actors (not including migrants) were identified as part of the Lampedusa smuggling ring. 95 percent were male smugglers operating along the main route, from the Horn of Africa to the Nordic nations in northern Europe – where many migrants hoped to find refuge – via Libya and Italy.
However, the network also extended to Dubai, Israel, Canada, Turkey, Germany and the U.K., and included those who kidnap for ransom in the deserts of Libya, and Tripoli militiamen who take bribes to let migrants out of detention centers.
“People specialize,” said Campana. “There was a clear separation between those providing smuggling services, those kidnapping for ransom, and those, like the militias, ‘governing’ spaces and supplying protection.”
He also detected signs of rudimentary hierarchy among smugglers in some stages of the route, which roughly divide into “organizer” and “aide.”
“Organizers are individuals who give orders but don’t receive them, while aides are highly dependent on organizers for their activities. Organizers make up some 15 percent of the smuggling network and the remaining 85 percent occupy a lower ranking aide position.”
The network models built by Campana show that those who operate in the same stage of the journey are almost seven times more likely to have some link with each other. “Even in a network that traverses the hemispheres, it is the local dimension that is still crucial,” he said.
Moreover, Campana found that those who share the same network position as either organizer or aide are three times less likely to have any tie. “There is little contact between fellow organizers, reinforcing the impression of smugglers as free-trading independents. Business opportunities tear coordination apart,” he said.
Indeed, a focused analysis of a sub-network of 28 smugglers revealed that those based in Italy who tapped directly into the Libyan ‘marketplace’ had very little contact with each other.
Wiretaps and testimonials suggest that migrants have to pay separate vendors for each leg of the journey. Payment was often done in advance though Hawala, an informal money transfer system based on trust.
One wiretap reveals a charge of $3,600 for a couple to cross the Mediterranean. Another wiretapped smuggler charges €150 per person for a car trip from Sicily to Rome.
“Reputation is crucial in a competitive market, and the wiretaps show how much value smugglers place on their reputation,” said Campana.
One smuggler was recorded reproaching another for overcrowding a boat, comparing it to the way a dirty bathroom reflects badly on everyone who shares the house.
In fact, the wiretaps reveal that the loss of life in the Lampedusa disaster led to compensation being paid to families by smugglers scared of losing future business.
“Authorities may wish to deliberately tarnish the reputation of smugglers in order to shut down their business,” said Campana.
“Criminal justice responses require the adoption of coordinated tactics involving all countries along the route to target these localized clusters of offenders simultaneously.
“This is a market driven by exponential demand, and it is that demand which should be targeted. Land-based policies such as refugee resettlement schemes are politically difficult, but might ultimately prove more fruitful in stemming the smuggling tide than naval operations.”
Paolo Campana, “Out of Africa: The organization of migrant smuggling across the Mediterranean,” European Journal of Criminology (21 January 2018) (doi: org/10.1177/1477370817749179)
