Brussels, May 21 (RHC)-- European authorities estimate that nine out of ten refugees and asylum seekers paid between $3,400 to $6,800 USD each to smugglers.
According to a new report by international crime-fighting agencies Interpol and Europol, people smugglers made over $5 billion from the wave of migration into southern Europe last year.
About 90% of asylum seekers entering the European Union in 2015 relied on "facilitation services" -- mainly loose networks of criminals along the routes, and the proportion was likely to be even higher in 2016, the report said.
