People smugglers made billions on the backs of some 2.5 million desperate migrants in 2016, the UN said in a report Wednesday as the plight of refugees worldwide continues to top the headlines.
The report, issued by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said people-smuggling rings earned some $7.0 billion (7.0 billion euros) in 2016 -- an amount, it noted, equal to US and EU humanitarian aid that year.