Turkey-Italy smuggling between mid-2016 and mid-February 2017 rises to 3,866

Description

It has been reported that human smuggling (disambiguation of 'trafficking') by sea between Turkey and Italy has risen again. According to the 'secret' report of the Illegal Migration Joint Analysis and Strategy Center (GASIM), which includes German authorities, the number of human trafficking cases detected by sea from Turkey since the middle of the year of 2016 has increased significantly.

According to a secret report reached by RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland, which is created by over thirty journalists, in 2016, 3,866 asylum seekers arrived in Italy by 59 vessels from Turkey. It is reported that 88 per cent of recorded human trafficking cases take place in the second half of 2016. In 2015 this number was recorded as 2 thousand 741.

Smuggling was made mainly of sailboats made by Ukrainian smugglers, and the majority of asylum seekers came from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The refugee reconciliation signed between Turkey and the EU in March and the closure of the Balkan route are seen as the main reasons for the increase in human trafficking cases.