Cash handoffs, extortion fuel Mediterranean trafficking

A boat loaded with migrants is spotted March 2011 at sea off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy. The odyssey often begins in an Eritrean refugee camp in Sudan where smugglers offer a deal too good to refuse: Transport to Libya and the chance of a boat trip to Europe, sometimes with no money down. But once in the lawlessness of Libya, the desperate and the dreamers are essentially held hostage by their traffickers until payments are extorted from relatives or they come up with the cash themselves. Associated Press file photo

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