Red Crescent workers inspect a body washed ashore east of Tripoli,Libya, October,2015. IOM said more than 2,600 migrants had died on central Mediterranean route by then that year.Mohamed Ben Khalifa /Press Association. All rights reserved.Recent survey findings from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reinforce what numerous studies and media reports suggested over the past years: most migrants taking the central Mediterranean route into Europe are vulnerable to extreme exploitation.
The survey conducted with migrants and refugees who arrive in Italy monitors the experiences that indicate the presence of human trafficking and other exploitative practices, finding that 76% of respondents have answered positively to at least one indicator (out of five indicators for individual experiences). More than half of the migrants and refugees interviewed (54%) responded positively to at least 2 out of 5 indicators of human trafficking and exploitative practices. The survey was based on a sample of 1,346 migrants and refugees.
Reports about the suffering of people coming to Europe on this migration route are nothing new. The unsafe passage through Libya to Italy, for sub-Saharans migrants in particular, is also well-known. Data collected from smaller samples show slavery-like experiences reported by migrants. MHub, the inter-agency public platform, found that 90% of migrants that arrived in Italy on this route have experienced between three and nine different kinds of abuses on their journey. The MHub survey consists of a small sample of 122 migrants. A recent photo essay from Oxfam describes the challenges for migrants, and individual stories refer to insecurities and vulnerabilities experienced both on their way to Italy and after arrival.
