BERLIN (AP) — People crammed into boats and trekking across borders have become the dominant images of Europe's migrant crisis. In the shadows, however, there are those who are profiting, for whom every migrant is a business opportunity.
The business of migration extends far beyond the human traffickers, who often grab migrants' money and send them on life-threatening journeys on rubber boats or in cramped trucks. It include bus companies and shelter operators that provide essential logistical help to authorities overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in need of housing and transportation. Telecoms companies that sell SIM cards with special contracts for cross-border calls. And petty food-and-drink vendors at train stations are even known to be price-gouging, charging migrants double or triple the amount they'd be charged in stores around the corner.
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