An inside look at the extraordinary scale of people smuggling in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been described by some as the new slave trade.
Are Europe’s multibillion dollar efforts to tackle people smuggling in Africa putting desperate migrants in even more danger?
This week on Dateline, reporter Benjamin Zand tracks the journey of migrants as they travel through Africa and attempt to cross the Mediterranean and reach Europe – and looks at what Europe is doing to stop them from arriving.
According to Doctors Without Borders, this pushback by Europe is, “feeding a criminal system of abuse…a thriving enterprise of kidnapping, torture and extortion”.
The Nigerian anti-trafficking agency, NAFTIP, is on the frontlines of people smuggling in Africa. Emmanuel, an officer with the agency, says even for migrants who reach their destination, they are often mislead about what will happen when they get there.
He says many women are promised jobs, but once they arrive are forced into prostitution.
“A lot of girls out of ignorance fall into the deception of the human traffickers,” Emmanuel says. “Human trafficking is modern day slavery.”
