Gangs from Turkey benefit from human smuggling in Mediterranean: EU

Migrants dreaming of Europe have their pick of social media sites that work like an online travel agent, advertising fares and offering tips on secure payments, while criminal gangs from Turkey are homing in on a share of the profits.

That's the picture of an increasingly sophisticated business in migrant smuggling painted by European officials and an EU document.

Information gathered from migrants rescued at sea "confirms that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are widely used to share information on how to enter the EU illegally," said the analysis compiled by security experts for EU policy makers.

Social media, which helped spread the Arab Spring revolutions, are now a versatile tool in the hands of migrants and smugglers. Many use members-only Facebook accounts to share information about how to enter the EU illegally and elude authorities once inside.

"Would-be migrants exchange information that can vary from routes to be used, asylum-related general information, facilitators' contacts and also warnings regarding certain facilitators that usually just take advantage of migrants in order to obtain money from them," said the EU document.

With thousands of sub-Saharan Africans willing to pay as much as 2,000 euros ($2,400) for a spot in an overcrowded dinghy - and wealthier Syrians now barely flinching at shelling out 9,600 euros ($8,000) for a place aboard a rusty cargo ship - criminal gangs from Turkey are homing in on a share of the profits.

One Facebook page, with several thousand likes, provides contacts via Viber and WhatsApp to an Istanbul office where secure payments for travel from Turkey to Greece can be made. Another has regularly updated information on travel document requirements in...