How ISIS makes millions out of misery of migrants desperate to get to Europe

29.05.2020 09:56

The Islamic State are making millions out of taxing gangs who are smuggling people out of Libya and across the Mediterranean into Europe, an investigation has found.

The terror group are said to be demanding they take half of the share of the profit from vessels making the dangerous crossing, commanding up to £60,000 per boat, which is then used to fund their activities.

Intelligence analysts also fear that would-be jihadis are exploiting the growing crisis of desperate migrants fleeing war-torn North Africa by joining them on risky boat crossings.

It is said they use the well-worn route of migrants, as it allows them to blend in easily with the other refugees.

Once ashore in countries such as Italy and Greece, there are fears that militants could evade detection by the authorities – and try to plot violent attacks.

The investigation was carried by BBC Radio 5 Live with Libyan security adviser, Abdul Basit Haroun, saying he has spoken to boat-owners who told him the group takes 50 per cent of their income.

In the programme, broadcast today, he said: 'They use the boats for their people who they want to send to Europe as the European police don't know who is from ISIS and who is a normal refugee.

'The boat owners have a list of who to take but some people come suddenly and they're told, 'Take them with you.'

'They sit down separately, and in the boat they are not scared at all.

'They are for ISIS – 100 per cent. I think they do something for planning in future, not for today or tomorrow.'

The news comes after the Mail on Sunday revealed that British Special Forces divers are poised to launch a series of daring operations along the Libyan coastline to destroy the ships used by traffickers.

A double agent who betrayed Al Qaeda secrets to MI5 says IS is now running its own small, but well-organised people-trafficking operation.

Aimen Dean, now a security consultant, also tells the programme that he knows of two Egyptian brothers who reached Italy from the Libyan port city of Sirte.

They were reportedly given a week of religious education to 'safeguard' them against temptations of the West before being accompanied on their journey by men who were 'deeply religious and fluent in Italian and French'.

Meanwhile today, Libyan authorities arrested 400 illegal migrants, including several pregnant women, during a dawn raid as they prepared to board boats bound for Europe.

According to Mohammed Abdelsalam al-Kuwiri, a spokesman for the Tripoli-based government, most of the migrants were Somalis and Ethiopians.

He said they were arrested as they were getting ready to board boats in Tajura, east of the capital.

A migration squad official said the arrests coincided with the launch of an operation targeting people smugglers.

With a coastline of more than 1,000 miles, Libya has always been a stepping stone for Africans seeking a better life in Europe.

Most head for the Italian island of Lampedusa 185 miles from Libya's shores.

One man who had hoped to reach Italy before his arrest Sunday was Adam Ibrahim Abdullah from Somalia.

He said: 'I paid $1,400 to come to Tripoli. I stayed here in a compound for two months, and then I paid $1,400 again to go to Italy.

He said he wanted to start a new life in Italy "because my country is in conflict and there is no government".

Maneh from Niger and Anabelle from Nigeria said they hoped to join relatives who have already left for Europe, pleading not to be deported back home.

'I don't want to go back to my country. There is nobody to help me there. I beg you, keep me in Libya,' Maneh said, tears running down her cheeks.

Illegal migrants arrested in Libya are usually held in detention centres before being deported.

(dailymail.co.uk)