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Originally posted by XXXXX:
Actually, that wouldn't be a problem, for two reasons. The active patrol measures require that you control ports, and you cannot load big ships with people outside ports. Any trespasser would be blocked in territorial waters, where it would be perfectly legal to do so. Second, so far no boat bigger than a fishing ship has ever been used for this trafficking, because the boat is disposable - once you get in italian waters, it gets confiscated. You cannot afford to lose a ship every time.
The active patrol measures work, the Albanian case has proved that. Yet, without international consense, nothing can be done.
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Territorial waters generally don't extend much further than 12 miles (often less where other states have a claim). That leaves a very small margin to stop ships behaving in a suspicious manner - which means to actively patrol the area would require a rather substantial fleet of fast patrol boats.
A second point to consider is that the smugglers only make the trip for show - they've already been paid to smuggle the people across and frankly, don't show much concern for their welfare (how many times have the crew abandoned the ship in a fast speedboat?).
And this ties in very well with the ships that they tend to use - old rust buckets bought for a few dollars that might make it across the sea - and then again, might not. I think that they have even factored in the cost of the boat into their fee - and if the boat manages to return (by some miracle), they consider that as an extra bonus. As a result, I very much think that they can afford to lose a boat every time.
What is really required is a combined effort both on the patrol front - and on the legistlative front. Tightening immigration laws front is politically unpopular - every time a state attempts to make illegal immigration unattractive through the legislature there are howls of protest and labels of 'far right wing anti-immigration party' (witness Switzerland and the Netherlands).
However unpopular it is though, tackling with the lure that Europe presents is just as important as dealing with those who are not dissuaded by the risks.