(ANSA) - ROME - News agencies from 10 countries including Italy's ANSA have teamed up for a worldwide investigative project into migrant smuggling in the wake of the refugee crisis sweeping Europe and amid persisting issues linked to migration throughout the Asia Pacific and the US.

The website goes online today and is called 'Global Spotlight'. It was created under the auspices of the news agency business intelligence network MINDS International on its 10th anniversary. The first Global Spotlight will be on criminal networks preying on families dislodged from their homes through war, persecution and poverty.

The work was six months in development and extensive on-the-ground reporting was by done by the news agencies' correspondents, but also includes in-depth analysis of migrant smuggling's root causes, travel patterns and the social impact in the world's smuggling hotspots. It gets face-to-face with smugglers, criminal gangs and victims to fully understand the desperation, modus operandi and scale of an ever-growing industry.

It also takes a close look at the scarred communities of Middle East war zones and moves from the Southern Sahara to Europe and the Mediterranean; from South America to Mexico and the US; and across the treacherous waters throughout South East Asia.

The new agencies involved are Agence France-Presse (AFP), Australian Associated Press (AAP), Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), Agencia EFE, Agenzia ANSA, Austria Presse Agentur (APA), Czech News Agency CTK, LUSA from Portugal, Schweizerische Depeschenagentur (SDA) and Suomen Tietotoimisto (STT) from Finland. Global Spotlight will also explore the ways in which authorities are attempting to combat the problem and the challenges that come with this.

"This is not about competition, revenue or brand building; this is about news people doing good globally," said MINDS Executive Director Wolfgang Nedomansky. (ANSA).