The weather is getting warmer – Spring is in the air – and the number of refugees crossing the Mediterranean is on the rise again. Most use Libya as their springboard – after having travelled there under mostly harrowing circumstances. And their will to reach Europe directly translates into business – smugglers get paid for putting people into rickety boats. Small wonder that the death toll is also rising – again.

The Frontex ships are not the only ones patrolling the waters off Libya – NGOs have started to send out their own boats in an effort to save as many people as possible from drowning. And they get criticized for furthering the ugly business of refugee trafficking by playing into the smugglers hands: They  only have to provide some form a flotation device and can be sure that the do-gooders will wait in international waters to pick up the human cargo.

But what is the alternative?

If you don´t do the humanitarian thing – then we actually condone the deaths of refugees in the Mediterranean. Since we do not have any alternative plan – and since Libya is not exactly the kind of country that inspires much trust in its observance of human rights – since the pressure in people´s home countries will not abate anytime soon … all this leads to the very real problem at the coast. There is the demand to reach Europe no matter the cost – and there will be someone to fill it.

The more people pay for their flight, the more money will have to be laundered or at least placed into some account or investment. So, please – someone follow the money and grab those assets.