Articles · Vol. 23 No. 1 (2019): African Sociological Review · Pages 110-122

8 - A Researcher’s Visit to Italy: Human trafficking and the Nigerian-Sicilian Mafias

Vol. 23 · 2019 No. 1 African Sociological Review ASR

Abstract

This essay interrogates the complex nexus between organized crime and migrants within host countries. It specifically focuses on the surge of irregular migrants crossing the Central Mediterranean to Italy and the emergence of Nigerian criminal gangs who have cemented an ignoble but enduring cord with the Sicilian notorious mafia. This network, which took on a life of its own, has changed the traditional map of organised crime on the Island, defying both regional and global measures. The essay expresses concern on how Sicily intends to stop being “the refugee camp of Europe” through increased repatriations in the face of the financial, logistical and humanitarian implications of such an undertaking.

Keywords

Trafficking Organised Crime Sicily Mafia Migrants

Statistics

Abstract views
513
Downloads
105

References

  1. Agius, Connie (2015) How organised crime profits from Italy’s immigration boom, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-06/agius-migrants-and-organised- crime/6829714 Associated Press (2018) Italy stems immigration, short on aiding indebted sex slaves, March 7
  2. Bhalla, Nita (2018) Africa’s human trafficking is flourishing, and SA is on its route, BusinessDay, July 31
  3. Bonaccorso, Nicole (2018) From Refugee to Commodity, https://features.weather.com/exodus/chapter/from-refugee-to-commodity/
  4. Dickie, John (2004) Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Emma Wallis (2019) Tricked, trafficked and sold: How criminal gangs are bringing Nigerian women to Italy, https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/14725/tricked-trafficked-and-sold-how-criminal-gangs-are-bringing-nigerian- women-to-italy
  5. EPSC Strategic Notes (2017) Irregular Migration via the Central Mediterranean, http://www.statewatch.org/news/2017/feb/eu-com-epsc-note-irregular-migration-central-med-2-2-17.pdf
  6. Esslemont, Tom (2016) As Nigerian sex trafficking rises, Italy tracks crime kingpins, Thomson Reuters Foundation news, November 9
  7. Filitz, John (2018) Nigerian Women’s Ill-fated Pursuit of a Better Life: Understanding the Dynamics of Migration, https://oefresearch.org/think-peace/nigerian- women-understanding-dynamics-migration
  8. Filitz, John (2018) Nigerian Women’s Ill-fated Pursuit of a Better Life: Understanding the Dynamics of Migration, https://oefresearch.org/think-peace/nigerian- women-understanding-dynamics-migration
  9. Guidroz, Bobby J. (2017) The difference between human trafficking and smuggling, https://eu.dailyworld.com/story/opinion/columnists/2017/09/06/difference-between-human-trafficking-and-smuggling/621095001/
  10. Human Rights Watch (2019) No Escape from Hell: EU Policies Contribute to Abuse of Migrants in Libya, https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/01/21/no-escape-hell/eu-policies-contribute-abuse-migrants-libya
  11. Lorenzo, Tondo (2016) Mafia at a crossroads as Nigerian gangsters hit Sicily’s shores, The Guardian, June 11
  12. Martelli, Sarah (2018) A Long Journey for a Chance at a Second Life, https://www.unicef.org/innovation/stories/uReportonthemoveLongJourney
  13. Meers, Jelter (2017) Italy: After Cosa Nostra, Nigerian Black Axe New Foe for Police, https://www.occrp.org/en/27-ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/8095-aly-after-cosa-nostra-nigerian-black-axe-new-foe-for-police
  14. Merelli, Annalisa (2017) Rescuing refugees is a matter of common sense on the paradisiacal island of Lampedusa, Quartz Daily Brief, February 3
  15. Mwangaguhunga, Ron (2018) Nigerian Gangs, The Mafia, Human Trafficking And Italy, https://www.openletr.co/find-your-truth/nigerian-gangs-the-mafia-human-trafficking-and-italy3182018
  16. Osborne, Simon (2016) The Black Axe: Italy faces chilling new organised crime group more ruthless than the mafia, Express, November 21
  17. Politzer, Malia and Kassie, Emily (2016) The 21st Century Gold Rush: How the refugee crisis is changing the world economy, https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/the-21st-century-gold-rush-refugees/#/niger
  18. Reguly, Eric (2018) Refugee crisis a multibillion-dollar honeypot for Italian Mafia, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/refugee-crisis-a-multibillion-dollar-honeypot-for-italian-mafia/article27186445/
  19. Save the Children, Italy (2017) Young Invisible Enslaved: Children Victims Of Trafficking and Labour Exploitation, https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/library/young-invisible-enslaved-children-victims-trafficking-and-labour- exploitation-italy
  20. The Telegraph (2017) Nigerian girls as young as 13 increasingly trafficked to Italy to work as street prostitutes, September 14
  21. Transparency International (2011) Breaking the Chain: Corruption and Human Trafficking,https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/breaking_the_chain_corruption_and_human_trafficking
  22. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2008) Human Trafficking: An Overview, https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2008/ HumanTrafficking-AnOverview.pdf
  23. Von, Helen Hecker (2018) From Refugee to Sex Slave: How African women are propelled into prostitution, https://www.deine-korrespondentin.de/from- refugee-to-sex-slave/
  24. Walter, Mayr (2017) Paradise Looted: How Sicily Became Ungovernable, Spiegel Online, November 10

In this issue

Vol. 23 No. 1 (2019): African Sociological Review →