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Arrest of 5 people on charges of human trafficking by the Greek Coast Guard
According to the report of the Aryan community news agency, quoted by the Associated Press (AP), the Greek Coast Guard has arrested five people on charges of smuggling hundreds of migrants from Greek waters to Europe. It is said that these migrants were supposed to enter Europe in an unsuitable boat from a sea route that connects Lebanon to Italy.
According to the announced statistics, this is the second time that a boat full of migrants has left Lebanon for Europe in just one month. In the past years, the common route for smuggling and transporting migrants from the Middle East and Africa to Europe has been the Turkish waters to Greece and Italy. But recently, following the increase of information and punishments of the border forces of Greece and the European Union, the attempt to reach Europe from this route has decreased.
The Greek Coast Guard has announced yesterday, August 2, that it has arrested five of the 101 people on board a pleasure boat 75 kilometers south-east of the Karpathos island on suspicion of smuggling. Based on the report of this institution, the suspects are citizens of Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. It is said that there were 40 children and 19 women among the passengers of this boat which was heading towards Italy.
The announcement of the Greek Coast Guard states that this boat was stopped from moving due to the number of passengers and overweight. Based on this announcement, the passengers of the boat have paid between 6 and 8 thousand dollars each to reach Italy.
The Greek Coast Guard said that on June 28, they rescued 166 people from a fishing boat that was traveling in the same direction and destination. 6 passengers of this boat are also accused of smuggling immigrants.
Meanwhile, according to the statistics of the Refugee Agency and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2% of the migrants who arrived in Italy by sea until the first half of this year came from Lebanon, 55% from Libya, and 21% from Turkey. Also, based on the statistics provided by the High Commissioner and the United Nations Refugee Agency, the number of immigrants who have tried to reach Europe in this way is increasing compared to the past.
