‘EU grants’ for migrant smugglers: Traffickers ‘receive up to £6,000 EACH to give up the life of crime and move into new employment’

‘The European Union has been accused of paying African migrant smugglers thousands – to encourage them to quit the illegal trade and set up their own businesses instead.
According to an investigation by the BBC’s Panorama programme, traffickers are getting up to £6,000 a time to move into new employment, such as training to become a mechanic, or help to set up a farm or shop.
An EU spokesman has denied that any cash was given to individuals, but an unnamed EU official told the programme off-camera that ex-smugglers were being given money via third parties and that the vetting system to decide who received help was ‘flawed’.
In one project, in Niger, the EU said it had ‘invested’ 687,000 euros or £604,000 in a pilot project designed to help former traffickers in the past 12 months alone.
The West African state is seen as the gateway to Libya and on to the Mediterranean for refugees seeking a better life in Europe.’
Read more: ‘EU grants’ for migrant smugglers: Traffickers ‘receive up to £6,000 EACH to give up the life of crime and move into new employment’