HUMAN SMUGGLING - Abandoned at Sea, Who's Responsible

"Who is responsible when a ship is abandoned at sea?" PBS NewsHour 1/2/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  A ship filled with refugees heading toward Italy was abandoned by its crew before making it to shore, the most recent case in an uptick in human smuggling.  Hari Sreenivasan talks to Daryl Grisgraber of Refugees International about why human smuggling has become such a lucrative business option and who is responsible when hundreds of migrants are left at sea.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  For more on this, I’m joined by Daryl Grisgraber of Refugees International.  She has interviewed migrants who have made this dangerous journey.

So, why is it that they’re abandoning these migrants in the ships on the middle of these dangerous routes?

DARYL GRISGRABER, Refugees International:  It’s an easy way to make money, frankly.

People can be charged for the smuggling rates.  You get on the ship, you can take them out into the water.  And then, instead of having to risk getting them all the way to shore or being caught by a coast guard and being prosecuted, you can just leave and have the ship there.  And whatever happens happens, right, because of the idea that these people are victims and civilians, and so maybe things won’t be so bad for them.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  All right, so and you said paid.  How much are people paying to get on these ships?

DARYL GRISGRABER:  It depends where you’re going from, but we have heard anywhere between 2,000 and 5,000 U.S. dollars, depending on the length of the trip.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  And that’s a lot money in that part of the world.

DARYL GRISGRABER:  It’s quite a lot of money, yes.