'You can't care if they die': people smugglers reveal unscrupulous methods

Traffickers between Tunisia and Italian island of Lampedusa explain how they evade authorities

Migrants from Tunisia crammed aboard a flimsy wooden boat, a scene indicative of smugglers' callous attitude to human life. AP

People smugglers operating between Tunisia and the Italian island of Lampedusa have explained how they evade the authorities and bring migrants to Europe’s shores.

Smuggler Ali Karkenni said his routes are “tough for the coastguard to navigate” because they are too shallow for their vessels.

“Now the coastguard is improving and they are using helicopters, but they can’t do anything to us,” he told British broadcaster Sky News.

More than 1,000 people have died attempting to make this crossing in 2021.

Footage from Sky showed migrants who made the crossing getting picked up by the Italian authorities before being transported to an overcrowded detention centre.

An Ivorian migrant at the facility described how difficult the journey was.

“For two days we had no food or water,” she said.

“The motor broke down and we had to ask for help from some fishermen who called for assistance,”

'Enormous risks' taken with migrants' lives

Yet two people smugglers admitted to taking enormous risks with the lives of their passengers.

Karkenni described one of his “hardest times”, when he got caught 29 kilometres off the coast with 21 migrants.

“I poured fuel on their boat and my boat and I took a lighter and threatened them. They were worried about what I could do, so they let me go,” he said.

It was sad to see a mother attached by a rope to her baby, and another baby tied to a piece of wood. It was sad to see them all dead

Chamseddine Marzoug,
migrant gravedigger

Another people smuggler, whose name was not given, seemed unconcerned about the consequences of the perilous journey.

“You just need to take as many people as you can and not care if they die,” he said.

Chamseddine Marzoug, who buries migrants who do not survive the journey to Europe, explained how he occasionally sees women and children.

“I remember a time when we found two bodies washed ashore: a woman and a baby. She was hugging him so we buried them next to each other. We couldn’t separate them,” he said.

“It was sad to see a mother attached by a rope to her baby, and another baby tied to a piece of wood. It was sad to see them all dead.”

Lampedusa and the coast off Tunisia are littered with wrecked boats used by migrants.

The boats continue to arrive despite the efforts of authorities to pursue the smugglers.

Italian authorities are not alone in struggling to combat people smugglers. French police on Wednesday revealed their cat-and-mouse games with people-smuggling gangs.