Missing migrants’ families say they were asked to pay hundreds for information on relatives

Families say they were promised details of relatives’ whereabouts after contacting people they thought were linked to NGO in Spain

Families of people who disappeared on the perilous journey from Africa to Europe have said they were asked to pay hundreds of euros in exchange for information about what had happened to their loved ones.

In interviews with the Guardian, three families recounted how, as part of their searches for missing relatives that had gone on for years, they had made contact with people they believed to be connected to an NGO in southern Spain who said they were able to help them.