ISIS militants being smuggled into Europe on migrants' boats: Report
Highlights
In what may add fuel to the fire by exacerbating the already existing migrant crisis, a Libyan government official has told the BBC that Islamic State militants are being smuggled into Europe through boats filled with migrants.
In what may add fuel to the fire by exacerbating the already existing migrant crisis, a Libyan government official has told the BBC that Islamic State militants are being smuggled into Europe through boats filled with migrants.
Speaking to the BBC, Libyan government adviser Abdul Basit Haroun, who based his claims on conversations with boat owners in parts of North Africa, said smugglers in Mediterranean were hiding ISIS militants on migrants' boats.
He added that the ISIS was charging them 50% of their income in exchange for letting them carry their boat operations.
Of late, migrant crisis has been in the spotlight mainly after an estimated 800 migrants died earlier in April when an overcrowded fishing boat capsized.
That was the largest known loss of life in a single migrant boating disaster — only 28 people survived.
The deaths prompted a humanitarian outcry and a European Union pledge to boost rescue efforts.
The UN says that 60,000 people have tried to cross the Mediterranean this year, out of which more than 1,800 people are feared to have died in 2015.
A record 280,000 illegal border crossings were detected in the EU last year, according to Frontex, Europe's border agency.
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