Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)

Cash payments, wire transfer, extortion fuel million-dollar Sahara-to-Sweden smuggling network

PALERMO, Sicily — Fleeing war, persecution and poverty, migrants desperate to reach Europe are paying thousands of dollars apiece to become pawns in a multimillion-dollar trafficking network that stretches from the Sahara to Sweden.

By the thousands, they're handing themselves over to abusive smugglers who hold them hostage in wretched conditions in Libya until their families cough up the cash to fund their trips, using companies like Western Union or more often the informal money transfer network known as hawala that is common in much of the Arabic world.

http://www.startribune.com/world/301448761.html

 

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