Human traffickers advertise their trade on Facebook

Smugglers have taken to Facebook to offer desperate migrants passage across the Mediterranean to Europe in a sign of how brazen human traffickers have become in their lucrative trade.

A cursory search by the Financial Times revealed several Facebook pages in Arabic offering passage to Europe, many via Libya to Italy, but others from Turkey to Greece. No mention is made of the hundreds who have died in the Mediterranean in recent days; instead they promise a reliable and comfortable journey in a matter of hours.

On a closed Facebook group offering tips to would-be migrants, a Turkey-based Syrian who goes under the pseudonym of Abu Moaz advertises crossings by inflatable boat to Greece. The voyage lasts about an hour-and-a-half and costs $950 per person, he says. Anyone interested can speak to him via the WhatsApp or Viber numbers on the site.

Contacted by the FT, Abu Moaz said he was a sailor, but that work was scarce these days. The boat he uses, a Zodiac with fibreglass flooring, is owned by a group of Turks and Syrians, and leaves from the Turkish coastline somewhere between Bodrum and Izmir. "It is people smuggling, no more and no less," he said, but insisted that - unlike other smugglers - he travels with the migrants on the boat to ensure they reach their destination.

"Others just show the passengers how to operate the engine, but they can get lost and run out of petrol," he said. "I will only take 20 people, but the boat can accommodate 25."

He added that he does not accept women or children because they "hold everyone up".

Plenty of others do accept children. Another Facebook page called "Migration from Libya to Italy", offers what it calls a "comfortable and reliable service for all travellers". Posts instruct would-be passengers to present themselves at the port of Zuwara, where many of the overloaded migrant boats have originated, on a particular day. Prices are $1,000 per person, $500 for children under 10; small babies are free.

Commenters on the post ask for details of departure and arrival times. One user asks, poignantly: "Did the last boat arrive?" The answer: "It arrived, praise God."

Abu Moaz is dismissive of the people smugglers who operate from Egypt and Libya and send migrants in dangerously overloaded boats. "I know what I am saying may sound contradictory, but they are criminals because their safety standards are low."

It is impossible to verify the identity of any of the groups behind the Facebook pages, but the "Migration from Libya to Italy" page has more than 4,600 "likes", frequent postings and a lively comment field.

Facebook says that it removes content related to smuggling - but only when it is reported to them.

"It is against Facebook's community standards to post content which co-ordinates people smuggling and such content will be removed when reported to us. We encourage people to use the reporting links found across our site so that our team of experts can review content swiftly."

Additional reporting by Murad Ahmed in London

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