Abstract
Over the past decade, Libya has emerged as one of the most important transit countries for irregular migration toward the EU. Since around 2000, a growing number of migrants from sub-Saharan African countries have sought to reach European shores from Libya. A commonly held perception has been that this growing flow of undocumented migrants through and from Libya to Europe has not only been an issue of irregular migration as such but also of human smuggling and organized crime. It is often claimed that the transport of migrants by boat across the (Central) Mediterranean, as well as during earlier parts of migrants’ journey toward Europe, has been in the hands of highly organized transnational crime syndicates that have been deriving huge profits from this business.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Amnesty International. 2005. Frontera Sur. El Estado da la espalda a los derechos humanos de los refugiados e inmigrantes. June 19, 2005.
Attir, Mustafa O. 2012. “Illegal Migration in Libya after the Arab Spring.” Middle East Journal. September 19.
Coluccello, Salvatore and Simon Massey. 2007. “Out of Africa: The Human Trade between Libya and Lampedusa.” Trends in Organized Crime 10 (4): 77–90.
De Haas, Hein. 2008. Irregular Migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and the European Union: An Overview of Recent Trends. Geneva: International Organization for Migration.
European Commission. 2004. Technical Mission to Libya on Illegal Immigration. November 27–December 6.
Fortress Europe. 2007. Escape from Tripoli: Report on the Conditions of Migrants in Transit in Libya. Rome, October 25,.
Frontex. 2007. Frontex-Led EU Illegal Immigration: Technical Mission to Libya. May 28–June 5.
Human Rights Watch. 2006. Stemming the Flow: Abuses against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees. September 2006.
—. 2009. Pushed Back, Pushed Around: Italy’s Forced Return of Boat Migrants and Asylum Seekers, Libya’s Mistreatment of Migrants and Asylum Seekers. September.
International Organization for Migration. 2011. Humanitarian Emergency Response to the Libyan Crisis. February 28–September 27.
Ministero dell’Interno. 2009. L’immigrazione in Italia traidentità e pluralismo cultural. September 2009.
Monzini, Paola. 2007. “Sea-Border Crossings: The Organization of Irregular Migration to Italy.” Mediterranean Politics 12 (2): 163–184.
National Statistics Office, Malta, Demographic Review, various years.
Van Moppes, David. 2006. The African Migration Movement: Routes to Europe. Nijmegen: Radboud University Press.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2013 Peter Seeberg and Zaid Eyadat
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lutterbeck, D. (2013). Across the Desert, Across the Sea: Migrant Smuggling into and from Libya. In: Seeberg, P., Eyadat, Z. (eds) Migration, Security, and Citizenship in the Middle East. The Modern Muslim World. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137345417_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137345417_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-46649-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-34541-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)