The deadly business of migrant smuggling

As thousands die on the perilous journey from Africa to Europe, we examine the economic cost of migrant trafficking.

Thousands have died on the perilous journey from Africa to Europe and with every boat that leaves Africa's shores, the situation gets worse. The migrants, who want a better shot at life in Europe, are risking their lives because legal channels just are not open to them.
Their misery creates an illicit market for people smugglers - with millions in profits taken in, often for the ultimate price. It is estimated that the human trafficking industry as a whole produces almost $26bn a year. Smuggling is part of that - though not typically a part which would continue to exploit people in the way human trafficking does.
Most journeys happen across the Mediterranean Sea - with more than 200,000 crossings and over 3,000 deaths in 2014. But it is a global phenomenon, and it happens in the Gulf of Aden, the Bay of Bengal, and over in the Caribbean Sea too in significant numbers.