The Greek migrant boat tragedy spotlights dangerous immigration actors
Global News
What connects a shipwrecked migrant boat off the coast of Greece to international students fighting for a place in Canada? The role of risky agents and consultants, experts say.
What connects the shipwreck of a migrant boat off the coast of Greece to international students fighting for a place in Canada? The dangerous risks many are forced to take to in order to navigate around hard-to-decipher immigration systems, say some who work in the field.
And for some, that means relying on risky, unlicensed immigration consultants or “agents” tied to smuggling rings — a risk experts warn needs to be taken seriously.
Hundreds of people are missing after a smuggling boat carrying migrants to Europe sank off the coast of Western Greece on June 14. The migrants on the boat were believed to be Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis and Palestinians.
In Pakistan, a country facing an economic crisis following a devastating flood last year, authorities have arrested seven people who allegedly played key roles in a human trafficking ring that put people on the boat. Nine arrests were made in Greece as well, where a court ordered their detention in the southern city of Kalamata.
Each of those who tried to make the perilous journey to Europe — hoping for a better life — paid the smugglers between $5,000 to $8,000, according to the Associated Press.
The BBC and Al-Jazeera have reported some of the people on the boat also used “agents” or “travel agents” to provide them with documentation for the journey and to be able to work once they arrived.
The role of insidious agents and consultants has also come into sharp relief in Canada, where hundreds of international students say they have fallen victim to a fake admissions letter scheme.
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