Can people smuggling be stopped?

The latest deaths of undocumented migrants in the UK are highlighting the international struggle to combat people smuggling.

Police in the UK are investigating how 39 people from China died in the back of a lorry.

It is believed they were taken through Bulgaria and Belgium.

Rights groups warn such cases are likely to increase as European countries tighten their immigration rules.

So, how can tragedies like this be avoided? And why have governments failed to stop the lucrative people-smuggling trade?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests:

Giulia Lagana – European Union migration and asylum policy analyst at the Open Society European Policy Institute

Lucia Bird – Senior analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime

Jelena Hrnjak – Programme Manager at NGO ATINA, an organisation working alongside the social protection system in Serbia to protect victims of human trafficking