The U.N. and partners say more migrants and refugees in Africa are heading north toward the Mediterranean and Europe, crossing dangerous land routes in the Sahara where criminal gangs roam subject them to enslavement, organ removal, rape, kidnapping for ransom and other abuses. A report from the U.N. refugee and migration agencies and the Mixed Migration Centre research group estimates the land routes in Africa are twice as deadly as the sea lanes across the Mediterranean. They say international protection services haven't kept pace with needs.
