I’ve met these men and women face to face and have gotten to know some of them.
They are those that have migrated to Italy from Africa.
They come hoping for a better life. A better future. But even if they are fortunete enough to survive the dangerous voyage towards Sicily or the Southern tip of Italy, they find that making that hope a reality is much harder than expected.
What a it costs a migrate to rent an apartment or sometimes only a room for a month in Italy, is what it would cost for an entire year of rent in Africa. Understanding this economic contrast between the cost of living in parts of Africa compared to Italy, you can quickly understand why so many Africains decide to make the journey. They are under the impression that they will be earning so much more money per day, not realizing that higher wage is quickly eaten up in living expensises.
But despite this reality, Italy has seen an astounding increase in imigrants:
“In the first six months of 2014, 63,884 people have arrived in Italy from ships sailing from Libya, flooding a system that is not funded to deal with them. Most are from African countries, especially Eritrea, Somalia, Mali, and Ghana.”
“Data from the EU’s Fraud Risk Analysis Network (FRAN) indicates that there was a 288 percent increase between 2012 and 2013 in the number of illegal border crossings detected along this route.”
Without proper funding and a nation undergoing financial crisis, caring for these migrants has afforded to be difficult for Italy, and migrates finding work has become nearly impossiable.
With Italy’s financial crisis, established crime networks, and geographical location is mixed with the migrants desperation, it has become a recipe for human trafficking. Not only labor trafficking, but since prostitution is legal in Italy, we could easily see a surge in sex trafficking in Italy—as well as a gateway to the rest of Europe.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera | IMAGE: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center via Compfight cc
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