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Migrants
are escorted to buses by Hungarian riot police in front of a migrant reception
centre in Roszke, Hungary, September 4, 2015. © Marko Djurica / Reuters
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As refugees continue to
pour into Europe each day, smuggling networks are thriving. Traffickers are
advertising their services on social media, cashing in huge sums to transport
vulnerable souls to the shores of Europe.
Taking
advantage of a desperate situation, smugglers offer their help to those fleeing
war and persecution – at a significant cost, a report by
The Washington Post reveals.
With
a “package” to satisfy most price points, traffickers are offering refugees
increasingly complex options, Patrik Engström, head of the Swedish national
police's national border policing section, told the paper.
RT.com report continues:
Those
options range from a simple RV journey over a bridge to a plane that will fly
refugees directly from Turkey to Sweden – a luxury that will set them back
about US$10,000.
“As
a global criminal enterprise, it is very lucrative,” said Engström, who has
monitored human smuggling and trafficking for years.
Those
with less money often pay hundreds of dollars for a cramped, below-deck journey
across the Mediterranean or thousands more for complex journeys, according to
law enforcement officials.
With
thousands of refugees leaving their homeland each day, smugglers are highly
sought-after. Officials say that traffickers are almost always involved in at
least part of a person's journey to Europe, which is made by boat, foot, rail,
and bus.
The
high demand for smugglers has, unsurprisingly, led to a boom in the
"industry," which European officials believe runs in the billions of
dollars.
Traffickers
often advertise their services on social media, making it easy for refugees to
make contact – and smugglers in Syria seem to be leading the pack, according to
Tuesday Reitano, head of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized
Crime.
“The
Syrians are managing their trips in a much more savvy way than any other group
that we’ve seen in the history of migration, that I’m aware of,” Reitano said.
But
Izabella Cooper, a spokeswoman for EU border policing agency Frontex, says
those in Turkey are just as “media-savvy” and organized as their Syrian
counterparts.
Meanwhile,
the smugglers aren't the only ones using modern technology to their advantage.
The refugees themselves communicate with one another along the journey, using
tools such as WhatsApp to warn others about locations with heavy police
coverage.
Authorities struggle to
keep up
As
Europe continues to face the world's worst refugee crisis since World War II,
European authorities are being faced with unprecedented circumstances – and are
struggling to keep up.
While
the number of refugees continues to grow, so does the number of illegal
activities, according to Robert Črepinko, head of the organized crime unit at
Europol.
“The
number of criminal activities is growing with the same speed as the number of
illegal migrants,” he said, adding that many of the traffickers used to smuggle
illegal drugs, but have shifted their focus since the crisis began.
Dealing
with the crisis in its own controversial way, Hungary has erected a massive
razor-wire fence along its border with Serbia – but experts say that this will
merely increase the use of smugglers.
Not everyone makes it
Refugees
are typically required to pay smugglers for each leg of their journey in
advance – and after that exchange, traffickers rarely have any motivation to
ensure a safe trip for their “clients.”
That
has devastating effects for refugees, with many dying while trying to make
their way to Europe.
One
of the countless cases took place on Wednesday, when the body of a young boy
washed ashore in Turkey. The young child, his brother, and mother were three of
12 Syrians who died when their boats sank en route to Greece.
Four
smugglers have been arrested in connection with the tragedy, according to
Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu.
Just
one week ago, the bodies of 71 people were found in an abandoned truck on an
Austrian highway. Four people, including the driver, were arrested on suspicion
of people smuggling. One of the men had been sought by German authorities one
month prior, in connection with a separate trafficking incident.
But
those two cases, along with countless stories of capsized boats in the
Mediterranean, don't even begin to account for the huge number of tragedies
happening every day, Engström said.
Refugees are continuing to
enter Europe by the thousands each day, seeking to reach Europe's borderless
Schengen zone. Sweden, along with Germany, is one of the most sought-after
nations, after Stockholm announced that asylum seekers would be given permanent
residency in the country.
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