In The Press -- International News
Homeland Security Chief To Discuss Illegal Migration on Asia Trip
By Jane Morse, International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, March 27, 2006
On his first visit to Asia as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff plans to tackle the issue of illegal immigration and human smuggling with his counterparts in China, Japan and Singapore.
At a March 23 meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations, Chertoff said the problem demands cooperation from the international community and from countries where migrants originate.
He said that since the terrorist attacks on the United States, land border security has become "the most emotionally dominant issue" in the U.S. media.
There are an estimated 8 million to 12 million illegal migrants currently living in the United States, he said.
See the full story.
Members of Chinese-Serbian Human Trafficking Ring Indicted in Belgrade
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Belgrade, January 9, 2006
Three Chinese nationals and nine residents of Serbia were charged January 9 with smuggling Chinese immigrants through the Balkans to western Europe, Belgrade authorities said.
According to this report: "Belgrade District Court prosecutors said the traffickers had smuggled an unspecified number of illegal immigrants from China from early 2004 until August 2005, charging US$10,000 (euro 8,300) per immigrant....
"The indictment described the traffickers as "particularly cruel and brutal," citing a case in which the group had abducted twelve Chinese nationals in Beijing last April.
"The hostages were allegedly held in the northern Bosnian town of Brcko where the kidnappers beat them while extorting money from their families, threatening to mutilate and cut the fingers off the captives unless the families came up with the cash...."
2005
"Snakeheads" More Cunning, Say Officials
By Jiang Zhuqing, China Daily, November 22, 2005
More than 4,000 people were arrested during the first half of 2005 for illegal attempts to enter or exit China, say Chinese officials. Ninety-five suspected people smugglers, or "snakeheads," were also detained.
"High intelligence, international collaboration and migration in groups are the three major traits of current illegal immigration crimes in China," Cui Zhikun, director of the Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration of the Ministry of Public Security, is quoted as saying. But he added that China is attempting to stop human smuggling through greater cooperation with officials in the United States, France, Britain and the International Organization of Police.
Although many Chinese are seeking better lives outside China, China is also facing an increasing influx of illegal immigrants. "The rampant illegal employment and habitation of foreigners in some places have disturbed the normal order of public security," Cui is quoted as saying. Chinese police have caught more than 63,000 foreigners who illegally entered, lived and worked in China during the past 10 years.
Poland Sentences Vietnamese for Human Trafficking
Agence France Presse, Dateline Warsaw, November 22, 2005
A court in Poland sentenced a Vietnamese national to two-and-half years in prison for having smuggled at least 500 illegal immigrants from Asia into the European Union.
Polish border police frequently stop groups of illegal immigrants trying to enter Germany via Poland.
Poland, although a member of the European Union, is not party to the Schengen agreement, which has removed internal border controls between most European Union member states but maintains strict controls on external frontiers.
U.S.-Brazil Joint Operation Breaks Up Global Human-Smuggling Ring
By Eric Green, Washington File, U.S. Department of State, Dateline Washington, September 15, 2005
The United States and Brazil have announced that their joint investigation has resulted in the arrests of 48 people who are linked to an international human-smuggling ring operating out of Brazil and stretching to Miami, Mexico City, Amsterdam and Bangkok.
Read the full story
Thailand Emerges As Fake Passport Capital
By Alisa Tang, The Associated Press, Dateline Bangkok, Thailand, September 8, 2005
Thailand is one of the world's main sources for fake passports, but the Thai government is starting to crack down on the black market for forged documents, according to this article.
Although the maximum punishment for fake documents is relatively light -- five years jail time and a $240 fine -- Thai police are pushing for a penalty multiplied by the number of fake documents seized.
20 Chinese Would-Be Illegal Immigrants Detained at Poland-Ukraine Border
Agence France Presse, Dateline Warsaw, September 2, 2005
Polish police detained 20 Chinese illegal immigrants trying to enter the European Union from Ukraine.
It was the largest group to be nabbed in the past few months, according to Polish authorities. The Chinese and their three Polish smugglers were believed to have crossed the River Bug in an inflatable dinghy.
104 Missing After Boat Sinks in Pacific
By Andrew Selsky, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Bogota, Colombia, August 18, 2005
Only nine survivors have been found of 113 illegal immigrants who were dumped in the waters off Colombia's Pacific coast after their boat, meant to hold 15 people, capsized.
The survivors spent two days at sea before an Ecuadorean fishing boat discovered them. They have since been returned to Ecuador by the Ecuadorean Coast Guard.
It is believed the group had been trying to reach the United States.
Human smugglers are known to use Ecuador's coast as a launching point to take their "clients" to Guatemala or Mexico where they then begin overland travel to the United States.
Costa Rica - Alerting Migrants to Risks of Smuggling
Press Briefing Notes from International Organization for Migration, August 16, 2005
Television is being used by IOM as a vital component of an information campaign warning hundreds of thousands of potential migrants from Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic of the risks of irregular migration and smuggling.
A video, being aired on international networks such as CNN and Telemundo as well as national networks in relevant countries, tells the story of a female migrant whose leg is amputated following a failed attempt to board a train - the most dangerous and common way to cross international borders in Central America.
Many migrants searching for a better life and who risk their lives crossing international borders, fall victim to unscrupulous smugglers who are known to abandon their human cargo in dangerous terrain and blazing heat.
The US Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP) reports that between March 2003 and January 2004 more than 700,000 irregular migrants were apprehended by its agents while attempting to enter the United States. In the past 12 months, the Yuma (Arizona) Sector Border Patrol seized 1,030 vehicles involved in smuggling migrants.
The CBP report adds that every year, beginning in March, human smugglers step up their activity with a measurable increase in the flow of irregular migrants and a higher incidence of crime. Many of the irregular migrants are unprepared for a long trek across desert, which usually takes place without adequate provisions and in temperatures that can exceed 115 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to illness and death.
Last year, the CBP reported that almost 2,000 people had died in the previous six years while attempting to cross the US border illegally.
Most of the irregular migrants are headed for the United States and Canada, but Europe and Asia are also frequent destinations.
The IOM project is funded by the US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
For more information and for a copy of the video, contact: Agueda Marin, IOM San José, Tel: 506.224.1152, E-mail: amarin@iom.int
The Illegal Migrants Using Budget Flights as a Passport to UK
By Matthew Hickley and James Slack, August 4, 2005
A study by Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service finds that human smuggling gangs are increasingly using discount airlines flying into smaller airports to move illegal immigrants into the United Kingdom.
"The report highlights particular concerns over illegal immigrants using Britain's open border with Ireland, where travellers are not required to show ID or passports," Hickley and Slack write.
Thousands Live Illegally in Australia
By Ben Ruse, The West Australian, Dateline Canberra, June 25, 2005
Australia's Immigration Department reports that just over 49,000 people are living illegally in Australia. More than 15,000 have been in the country for more than 10 years after overstaying their visas.
Most of the over-stayers came on tourist visas. The main culprits: people from the United States, Britain, China, Indonesia and South Korea.
Dutch Police Bust Chinese Gang Involved in People Smuggling, Drug Trafficking
Agence France Presse, Dateline The Hague, June 24, 2005
Authorities in the Netherlands announced they had arrested 10 Chinese believed to have operated a network for people smuggling, drug trafficking and extortion.
Police raids recovered firearms, 55 pounds of ecstasy and the equipment to produce it, and 170,000 euros (U.S. $205,033) in cash.
The gang members are said to have charged would-be illegal immigrants U.S. $48,000 to $60,000 each.
12 on Trial in France for Illegal Immigration of Chinese Minors
Agence France Presse, Dateline Bobigny, France, May 23, 2005
Twelve Chinese and French nationals have gone on trial for allegedly smuggling more than 500 Chinese minors into France, charging their parents a fee of up U.S. $30,000.
French police first noticed a sudden jump in the number of Chinese minors in Paris beginning in 2002. Most of the youth were from Wenzhou in eastern China. Many entered France on student visas and then stayed after the visas expired.
Hotel Fire Sheds Light on France's Illegal Immigrants
By Craig S. Smith, The New York Times, Dateline Paris, April 20, 2005
The April 15 fire that killed 24 people and injured dozens more at the Paris Opera Hotel helped draw attention of the rising tide of undocumented aliens in France.
Smith writes that the hotel was part of a circuit of low-end lodgings contracted by government-financed agencies to house asylum seekers or aliens whose requests for residency had been denied.
The French government provides homes and meals to some 10,000 illegal immigrants in Paris alone. Since France rarely deports illegal immigrants, many hang on for years.
Smith writes: "According to this country's Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, France is the world's leading destination for asylum seekers, with more than 65,600 requests in 2004."
How People Smugglers Are Beating the System
By Marina Jimenez, The Globe and Mail, April 20, 2005
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), in cooperation with U.S. authorities, has busted an Indo-Canadian cross-border human smuggling ring that transported some 300 Indian and Pakistani citizens from Canada into the United States between July 1, 2001 and October 7, 2002.
Nineteen people were arrested, including the ring-leader. All received prison terms from six to 22 months.
The years-long investigation, dubbed "Project Old Timer," demonstrated that "despite increased interdictions overseas and in Canada, hundreds of illegal migrants from India, Pakistan, China and other countries still use the services of smugglers to enter Canada," Jimenez writes.
Canada remains a popular destination for immigrants because of its generous refugee polices. Many who claim asylum disappear; many paying smugglers several thousand dollars to enter the United States. Last year, the overall abandonment rate for refugee claims in Canada was 11 percent; for Indian, Chinese and Pakistani asylum seekers, it was 10 percent.
46 Illegal Immigrants To Be Repatriated
By Wu Yixue, China Daily, April 18, 2005
Forty-six Chinese illegal immigrants will be repatriated to China from Malta, once their identities are confirmed.
The illegals were sent back to Malta by Italian police. Malta and China have an agreement that when illegal immigrants are apprehended in either country and their countries of origin proven, they can be repatriated.
The 46 are survivors of the March 24 Pozzallo tragedy at sea which killed six when people smugglers threw their passengers overboard to evade capture by police.
500,000 Illegal Migrants, Says Home Office
By David Leppard and Robert Winnett, The Sunday Times, April 17, 2005
Professor John Salt, director of the Migration Research Unit at University College London, estimates there are about 450,000 and 500,000 illegal immigrants in the United Kingdom.
Salt, who was commissioned by the Home Office to study the number of illegal immigrants in Britain, said that his estimates did not include spouses, de pendants and those not in the work force. If they were taken into account, the total number of illegals in the United Kingdom would be nearer to one million.
March 17, 2005
White House Spokesman Scott McClellan
Press Briefing
The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
Q. ... Mexico's President, Vicente Fox, is demanding that the walls now along the U.S.-Mexican border be torn down, saying that they're discriminatory and against freedom. At his meeting with Fox next week, will the President agree to tear down the walls, or will he insist they be kept?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the focus of next week's meeting is on strengthening our security and expanding our prosperity in the hemisphere. It's a trilateral meeting with Canada and with President Fox. They're going to have lunch after the morning meetings, but the focus of this meeting is on our initiative to move forward on strengthening security and making sure that we are all doing what we can to protect our borders, while also allowing for the free flow of goods and services and easing the flow of people among our borders, and then, also making sure that we are taking -- well, on the prosperity side, I've talked about the free flow of goods and services. Prosperity and security go hand-in-hand. And all our nations have been working to take steps to make sure we have a common approach on security and a common approach on expanding prosperity.
Now, in terms of the issue you bring up, the larger issue here is really making sure that we have a safe, orderly, and humane migration system. And this is something the President has worked on for many years, going back to his days as governor. He's talked about it with President Fox at length, and he's also put forward some proposals for achieving those objectives.
We've taken a number of steps to strengthen our border security, and we've also put forward a proposal that shows our compassion and addresses an important economic need, and that is the temporary worker program that the President proposed, because we have, I think, some 8 million illegal immigrants who have been coming to this country seeking to work, and it's a problem. And the President believes the plan that he put forward addresses that problem, addresses an economic need, and we will make sure that people who are coming here illegally are treated in a more humane way, because they'll now become part of a temporary program and be here legally.
So that's the way the President is looking at addressing these issues, and it addresses the larger issue, so that we do accomplish that shared goal.
Survey Finds Mexican Migrants in U.S. Favor Guest-Worker Plan
By Eric Green, International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, March 8, 2005
A new survey of nearly 5,000 Mexican migrants in the United States finds that a large majority would participate in a temporary worker program that granted them temporary legal status before they had to eventually return to Mexico.
The survey was conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center -- a division of the Washington-based, nonpartisan Pew Research Center that chronicles the growing impact of Latinos on the United States.
See the full story.
See a copy of the Pew report Attitudes About Immigration and Major Demographic Characteristics.
Mexico's Migrants Profit From Dollars Sent Home
By Ginger Thompson, The New York Times, Dateline Valparaiso, Mexico, February 23, 2005
This long front-page feature story examines the growing political clout that immigrants -- legal and illegal -- are having on their homelands in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean.
This article focuses on the city of Valparaiso in Central Mexico, which receives an estimated $100,000 a day from its former residents now living abroad. Remittances provide Valparaiso as much money in one month as the municipality will spend all year.
According to this article, 400,000 Mexicans leave Mexico each year to work in the United States, and they send home some $17 billion.
Thompson writes: "The Inter-American Development Bank estimates that migrants sent more than $45 billion to Latin America and the Caribbean last year, exceeding foreign investment and official development assistance for the third year in a row."
The migrants economic clout is now being transformed into political clout, according to this article. Often they are exerting their influence on how the money is spent by the local governments back in their home towns. And on February 22, the lower Chamber of the Deputies in Mexico City passed legislation allowing Mexicans with American citizenship to cast absentee ballots from the United States in Mexican elections. This will allow some 10 million Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to vote in Mexico's presidential elections next year.
Alberto Ruiz Flores, the mayor of Valparaiso, acknowledges that the migrants are admired by the neighbors they left behind and "have tremendous influence," but he says the funds provided by the migrants is a mixed blessing..
"The more people go, the more money flows back. But the more money that flows back, the more people go," Thompson writes. "And once everyone is gone, he (Ruiz) said, immigrants will not have any reason to send more money."
According to this article, the decline in populations as well as remittances is already happening in some other places in Zacatecas, the state where the city of Valparaiso is located.
Lithuanian Gangs Forge Ahead in Britain
By Daniel McGrory, The Times (London), February 21, 2005
"Criminal gangs from Lithuania are flooding Europe with expertly forged euros and high-quality counterfeit passports and financial documents," McGrory writes.
A raid last November in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas yielded eight million counterfeit notes in Euro 100 denominations.
Many of the best forgers used to work as printers under the old Soviet regime. When Lithuania became independent, they went into business for themselves, operating out of their flats and eschewing firearms and violence.
Mafia, Corrupt Police Cripple PNG Bid for Law and Order
By Mark Forbes, The Age, February 19, 2005
and
The Ticking Crime Bomb on Our Doorstep
By Mark Forbes, The Age, February 19, 2005
Chinese criminal groups have so deeply infiltrated and corrupted the highest levels of Papua New Guinea's police force, that Australian authorities are fearing criminal spillover into Australia.
Some 15 senior PNG officers, from inspectors to commissioners, are allegedly involved with Asian crime figures in activities such as people smuggling, money laundering, prostitution, illegal gambling, fraud and theft.
PNG Police Minister Bire Kimisopa is quoted as saying: "Chinese mafia have bought off officials throughout the system ... they are operating illegal businesses, they are siphoning money out, corrupting government officials, colluding with police and making attempts to kill officials as well."
Professor Hugh White, the head of the Australian National University's Strategic and Defense Studies Centre, is quoted as saying that organized crime in PNG could be a "conduit into Australia for a range of activities, including people-smuggling and drug-trafficking."
Australia has invested $1.1 billion and 210 police officers in a program to restore law and order to its nearest neighbor.
Spain Moves To Legalise Half Million Clandestine Immigrants
Agence France Presse, Dateline Madrid, February 7, 2005
The government of Spain will grant legal status to an estimated half million illegal immigrants already working in the country. The goal is to end illegal employment and reduce the black economy.
"Immigrants must provide proof of their registration with a local council from before August 8 last year, proof they have no criminal record and a work contract of six months. Employers have until May 7 to provide the contracts," this article says.
An estimated one million illegal immigrants live in Spain, a country with a population of 43.2 million. Most of the illegal immigrants are from Ecuador, Colombia, Romania, Morocco, Argentina, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Some 2.6 million foreigners live in Spain working in about 4.9 percent of the 17.24 million jobs available in that country. Of the new jobs created in Spain last year, 34 percent were taken by immigrants.
Taiwan Executes People Smuggler in Drowning of Six Chinese Women
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Taipei, Taiwan, January 14, 2005
Taiwan executed on January 12 Wang Chung-hsing, the people smuggler convicted for the drowning deaths of six Chinese women.
In August 2003, Wang's ship, carrying mainland Chinese women hoping to enter Taiwan illegally to work in the lucrative sex industry there, was spotted by the Taiwanese coast guard. Wang and his crew forced 20 women to jump overboard to avoid detection; six drowned.
Three of Wang's crew members have received prison sentences.
Pakistan To Set Up Special Courts for Human Smugglers, Official Says
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Islamabad, Pakistan, January 10, 2005
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao announced that the Pakistan government is planning to set up special courts to carry out quick trials of people accused of human smuggling.
Human trafficking can be punished with up to 10 years in prison or a fine under Pakistan's laws. In 2004, 261 people were charged with human smuggling; 53 were convicted.
According to this article, each year thousands of Pakistanis looking for jobs pay smugglers to get them into Middle Eastern countries or Europe.
2004
Illegal Mexican Immigrants Send the Most Money Home
By Marcela Cortes, EFE News Service, Dateline Orlando, Florida, December 17, 2004
A recent study by the Banco de Mexico indicates that 83 percent of the remittances sent to Mexico come from illegal immigrants, most of whom are working in the United States.
The study found that Mexican migrants sent home $13.8 billion between January and October 2004 -- up more than 23 percent from the same period of 2003.
According to Gilberto Velarde, Mexican Consul in Orlando, Florida, an estimated 300,000 to 350,000 Mexicans live in Central and Northern Florida. Most are agricultural workers, but they send home some $300 million to their families in Mexico.
Carlos Villanueva, chairman of the Association of Mexicans Abroad, is quoted as saying: "Remittances are estimated to total $17 billion this year, but such figures come up short because they do not take into account nontraditional ways of sending money, such as services or in kind. It is a fact that remittances are the top driving force of the Mexican economy."
New Intelligence Center To Deal With Illegal Foreigners
Kyodo News, December 11, 2004
The Japanese Justice Minister announced plans to establish, perhaps as early as next year, an intelligence center within the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau to crack down on the entry of illegal immigrants and prevent possible acts of terrorism.
According to this article: "The center will analyze information on suspicious foreigners it gathers from abroad and the National Policy Agency, and share it with local immigration bureaus nationwide in order to tighten immigration controls at local airports and ports."
Slovak Border Police Fight Losing Battle with Traffickers on EU's Eastern Front
By Robert Anderson, Financial Times (London), December 9, 2004
Slovakia's small, badly equipped border police force is having a rough time trying to combat ruthless criminal gangs from smuggling everything from illegal immigrants to contraband cigarettes to countries in western Europe.
Each year, an estimated 40,000 illegal immigrants make their way through Slovakia. In 2004, only 6,200 illegal immigrants -- mostly Chechens, Indians, Moldovans and Chinese -- were intercepted.
Anderson writes: "Slovakia is the smugglers' favourite route because of geography: the heavily forested and mountainous border is difficult to police and, once across, there is just a short journey to the Austrian or Czech frontiers. Economics also assists the traffickers as the regions on both sides of the frontier are impoverished and rely on the flourishing smuggling business. Local men are hired as guides and spotters, and even grandmothers act as lookouts.... Police recently ran a campaign seeking information on smuggling but only received four proper tip-offs, all from rival gangs informing on each other.""
There are only 295 border police and many have succumbed to corruption.
Slovakia, however, is trying to improve its border controls, however, because it hopes to join the Schengen passport-free zone in 2007.
Mexico Creates Comic Book To Help Illegal Immigrants
By Orlando Sentinel, Dateline Mexico City, December 8, 2004
In an effort to protect Mexicans attempting illegal, dangerous and often lethal border crossings, the Mexican Foreign Ministry is distributing 1.5 million copies of the Mexican Migrant's Guide. It provides information on how to survive and how to deal with U.S. authorities if they're caught.
Japan Urges Illegal Immigrants To Leave Voluntarily in New Crackdown
Agence France Presse, Dateline Tokyo, December 2, 2004
The Japanese government is offering leniency to illegal immigrants who leave voluntarily as part of ta a campaign to half by 2008 the estimated 250,000 illegal immigrants believed to be living in the country.
Those who turn themselves in will be barred from re-entering Japan for one years instead of five.
At the same time, the maximum fine was raised to $29,000.
Children of Illegals Will Be Deported
New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, December 1, 2004
Malaysia's Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho announced that children of illegal immigrants born in Malaysia will be deported with their parents despite birth certificates issued to them by the National Registration Department.
Some 14,000 newborns of illegals were registered with the department between 2001 and August 2004. These children, according to the minister, are considered to be illegals and cannot be enrolled in government schools or receive medical treatment from government hospitals.
Probe Launched Into Scandal of Ulster People Trafficking Racket
By Brian Hutton, Belfast Telegraph, November 13, 2004
Authorities in Northern Ireland have launched an inter-agency probe into a people smuggling racket that brings pregnant women into the country so that they can give birth in the hope of getting Irish citizenship.
Most of the women are Chinese and are kept in appalling conditions and made to work in low-paying positions to pay off their debts to their smugglers.
People-Smuggler in Court
The Australian, November 13, 2004
Masoud Ahmed Chaudry, a Pakistani accused of smuggling illegal immigrants to Indonesia in 2001, has been extradited from Thailand and appeared in a Perth Court. Several other accused people smugglers have recently been extradited from Thailand to Australia to face charges.
Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison is quoted as saying: "This sends a very clear message that Australia and its regional counterparts will work cooperatively and vigorously to pursue alleged people smugglers and bring them to justice."
Cocklers' Deaths Fail To Deter New Recruits
By Oliver August, The Times, Dateline Beijing, November 11, 2004
The horrific drowning deaths in February this year of 23 illegal Chinese immigrants who had been collecting cockles in the dangerous waters of Morecambe Bay have not stopped the steady flow of Chinese illegals hoping to make their fortunes in the United Kingdom.
On November 10, Chinese police arrested 58 residents of Fuqing, the area from which the Morecambe dead originated, for attempting to leave for Britain via Burma using fake documents. They had paid their snakehead U.S. $18,534 to U.S. $29,654 to make the trip that would take them from Fuqing to Kunming to Rangoon to Rio de Janeiro then possibly the Middle East or Brazil and then on to London.
August writes: "The urge to work abroad remains strong despite China's booming economy, with one Fujian airport reporting a one-third rise in cases of people trying to leave the country with forged documents last year....
"'Fuqing locals stowed away for Britain because the country has an ageing population that lacks labourers, and there were plenty of opportunities for illegal employment with a wage ten times higher than that in China or eastern European countries,' one snakehead told the China Daily. 'Many snakeheads belong to one family, and others are friends,' a man who was a snakehead for ten years told the same newspaper. 'They co-operate and get rich by sharing money from the stowaways.'"
China Detains 58 Would-be Illegal Migrants Headed for UK
Dow Jones International News, Dateline Shanghai, November 10, 2004
Chinese police arrested 58 would-be illegal immigrants who were hoping to fly to the United Kingdom. The group's plan had been to leave China via Kunming, the capital of southwestern China's Yunnan province, and reach Britain via Burma and Brazil.
All the members of the group were from Fujian, an eastern province in China, and each had paid their "snakehead" (people smuggler) $19,000 to $30,000 for the trip and fake travel documents.
French Expel 60 Percent More Illegal Immigrants This Year Than Last
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Paris, November 3, 2004
French authorities have expelled 12,000 illegal immigrants so far this year, a 60 percent increase over the numbers expelled in the same time period last year.
Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin is quoted as saying: The fight against improper immigration is an absolute necessity ... for national security."
The French government plans to spend U.S. $42 million in 2005 to battle illegal immigration.
Spain Agrees Illegal Worker Amnesty with Unions
Reuters News, Dateline Madrid, October 27, 2004
Spain has agreed to a three-month amnesty for illegal immigrants to win legal status if they can prove a six-month labor contract.
Estimates are that some 200,000 immigrants could become legal under the new measure which is expected to take effect early next year. But some companies may chose to dismiss illegal workers rather than make welfare payments.
There may be as many as one million undocumented workers in Spain, many from former colonies in North Africa and Latin America. Last year some 600,000 illegal immigrants entered Spain -- 23 percent of the total trying to reach the European Union.
Mexicans Who Came North Struggle as Jobs Head South
By Charlie LeDuff, The New York Times, Dateline El Paso, Texas, October 13, 2004
Many legal and illegal immigrants who came to the United States for what they thought were good paying jobs in the U.S. garment industry are finding themselves out of work because their jobs are moving to their homelands.
This article focuses on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the impact it has had on the U.S. garment industry. Since NAFTA was ratified 11 years ago, more than 17,000 garment manufacturing jobs have gone to Mexico and China. Yet it was the U.S. garment industry that, in the years before NAFTA, had attracted thousands of Mexican and Chinese immigrants to U.S. shores.
NAFTA most affected the low-skilled, low-wage workers near the U.S.-Mexico border. LeDuff writes: "According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, which focuses on labor issues, California lost 116,000 jobs from 1993 through 2002 because of NAFTA, many of them textile jobs. The federal government has certified that 7,800 workers in El Paso County were displaced by NAFTA over the past three years, more than double the number displaced in Cook County, Illinois, which was second....
"In September, the San Francisco Sewing Association closed its doors after 22 years. Once a provider of clothing for Gap, Esprit, and Koret, the company lost the last of its contracts to China. Its 200 unionized employees, almost all Chinese and Mexican, were sent to the breadline.
"'We lost the business because Mexico and China are a lot cheaper,' said Steven Lau, co-owner of the factory. 'One day's salary here is one month's salary in China.'"
Spain Spends Heavily to Bar Illegal Migrants
By Marlise Simons, The New York Times, Dateline Barbate, Spain, October 11, 2004
Of the half million illegal immigrants who enter Europe each year, one-fourth come via Spain. The main entry point to Spain is the Strait of Gibraltar, where the rough waters claim the lives of many would-be asylum seekers.
Last year, Spanish police intercepted some 14,000 illegal immigrants and 663 illegal vessels. Of Spain's estimated 2.7 million foreigners, about 1 million have no valid papers.
Spain's long coast and proximity to North Africa make it attractive to people smugglers. In addition, the average income is 12 times higher in Spain than Morocco; the income gulf is even larger between Spain and West Africa.
Simons writes: "Under pressure from the rest of Europe, Spain has been spending heavily, buying patrol boats, helicopters, night-vision scopes and heat-seeking cameras, all focused on the strait, from Barbate to Algeciras, and beyond Gibraltar, along the coast almost as far as Malaga." In addition, an electronic barrier is being installed along the coast closest to Morocco.
Manuel Fenix, the head of a small Red Cross Center at Barbate where illegal immigrants are offered food, dry clothes and showers, is quoted as saying he wishes for a harsh crackdown on people smugglers, whom he calls "extortionists."
According to Fenix, smugglers are demanding U.S. $1,000 for the short dangerous crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar. In addition, the smugglers have come up with an idea he calls "criminal." Fenix is quoted as saying the smugglers "tell people to wound themselves, to make sure they get to a hospital, because the hospital will give them papers. So now we've been seeing more people with knife wounds on their back or their legs. People who have slashed themselves. It's barbaric."
People Trafficking Route From Bulgaria Said To Shift to Serbia's Pirot, Danube
Financial Times Information/BBC Monitoring International Reports, October 11, 2004
People smugglers operating in Serbia have shifted their routes from the Zajecar area towards the Pirot and the River Danube; the main route for illegal crossings is through the Stara Planina Mountains.
According to this report: "In order to reach Serbia and go on to Hungary (now in the European Union), illegal immigrants take various routes, but they all go to Bulgaria first, which is their 'assembly centre.' According to last year's estimates by the Bulgarian police, there are up to 40,000 immigrants in that country."
On Italian Isle, Migrant Debate Sharpens Focus
By Ian Fisher and Richard Bernstein, The New York Times, Dateline Rome, October 5, 2004
This article discusses the debate going on in Europe regarding how to control the flow of asylum seekers.
Germany's interior minister, Otto Schily, has proposed establishing holding centers in North Africa for asylum seekers; only those whose applications are approved would be able to proceed to Europe. Critics of the plan fear the camps would be set up in countries that do not have good records in protecting refugees' rights.
The issue has received increased publicity when, this weekend, the island of Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island north of Tunisia and Libya and south of Sicily, found itself deluged by 1,200 illegal immigrants. Italy quickly flew 800 of them to Libya, their believed point of origin.
The number of asylum seekers attempting to enter Europe has actually dropped in recent years, from about 400,000 per year in the early 1990's to about 65,000 now. Of that number, the percentage of illegal immigrants from Asia and the Balkans has been dropping while the percentage of illegal immigrants from Africa has been rising.
Jail for Illegals Without Papers
By Mark Hookham and Andy Kelly, Daily Post (Liverpool) September 23, 2004
The British government has adopted a new law that will send illegal immigrants who destroy their passports to jail for two years.
The new measure, part of the 2004 Asylum and Immigration Act, responds to the problem of Chinese illegals who destroy their identification papers once they are smuggled into the United Kingdom. For those who are apprehended, new documents take anywhere from 18 months to four years to arrive from China.
Home Secretary David Blunkett is quoted as saying: "We are sending a clear signal to people coming into this country. If you are a genuine asylum seeker, you have nothing to fear by retaining your documents. If you destroy those documents, we will penalise you, and it will have an adverse impact on your claim for asylum."
Australia Jails Iraqi People-Smuggler for Eight Years
Agence France Presse, Dateline Darwin, Australia, September 21, 2004
An Australian court has sentenced Ali Hassan Abdolamir Al Jenabi to 8 years in prison for smuggling more than 250 asylum-seekers to Australia by sea in 2000 and 2001.
The asylum seekers, most of whom were from Iraq and Iran, paid between $1,500 and $2,500 for the trip that took them from the Middle East to Malaysia and then Indonesia. From Indonesia, they traveled to Australia in dangerous wooden fishing boats.
Al Jenabi was arrested in Thailand. He is the first person to have been extradited to Australia on people-smuggling charges.
Italy Tries To Stem Tide of Illegal Immigrants
Irish Times, September 13, 2004
and
Italy Plays Role of Europe's Immigration Gatekeeper; Italy Wants the Rest of the Continent to Stiffen Border Patrols and Asylum Guidelines
By Sophie Arie, The Christian Science Monitor, Dateline Rome, September 9, 2004
Arriving in just three boats, nearly 800 illegal immigrants arrive in southern Italy September 12 -- one of the largest influx Italy has seen to date.
The boats, which are believed to have set sale from Libya, arrived at Lampedusa, some 125 miles southeast of Sicily and just over 60 miles north of Tunisia. The tiny tourist island has become one of the major gateways for illegal immigrants searching for a better life in Europe.
The group was transferred to Sicily, but about half had to be released because there was nowhere to house them.
Rocco Buttiglione, Italy's European affairs minister, wants camps set up outside European Union borders to screen migrants before allowing them to enter. The Italian government also is calling on Europe to adopt a common immigration policy, create joint European border patrols, immigrant quotas, and strict asylum guidelines.
Italy has 1,500 miles of porous coastline and is battling its image as an easy point of entry onto the Continent.
Arie writes: "EU (European Union) figures estimate around 500,000 illegal immigrants arrive in Europe each year from all over the world. The Italian Interior Ministry estimates that immigration into Europe is worth more than $3 billion per year, the trip across the Mediterranean alone costing as much as 2,000 euros (U.S. $2,400) per person."
Unwitting Wives Are Prey in South Africa Scandal
By Sharon LaFraniere, The New York Times, Dateline Johannesburg, September 4, 2004
The South African government is investigating its Department of Home Affairs, where some officials, it is believed, have taken bribes to arrange more than 3000 marriages between foreigners and unsuspecting South African women.
LaFraniere writes: "As investigators have discovered, marrying a South African woman without her knowledge has been as simple as paying a bribe, averaging about $750, to one of many willing home affairs officials.
"The certificates are valuable because a foreigner who weds a South African is automatically entitled to permanent residence and a work permit, without which the foreigner could be deported. As the most advanced and prosperous nation in the region, South Africa is a magnet for immigrants seeking a new life -- and criminals seeking new identities."
The "husbands" come from all over the world, including Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, China, India, Bangladesh and Brazil.
The South African Parliament, however, hopes to stem the abuse with a new law adopted August 19 which requires foreigners who marry South Africans to wait five years before applying for anything beyond temporary residence and work permits.
New Zealand To Cancel Automatic Citizenship for Babies
Agence France Presse, Dateline Wellington, New Zealand, August 31, 2004
New Zealand is amending its law to prevent babies born in New Zealand of non-resident parents from automatically receiving citizenship.
Each year, about 600 babies are born in New Zealand to mothers who come to the country on short-term visas.
Smuggling Crackdown
PNG Post-Courier, Dateline Jakarta, August 24, 2004
Indonesia's government has submitted this week to its parliament legislation that would make, for the first time, people smuggling a crime.
The legislation, if approved, would impose on those convicted of people smuggling jail terms of between four and 15 years and fines of up to $A150,000 (U.S. $105,487).
Illegal immigrants caught in Indonesia would face up to three years in jail and fines of about $A75,000 (U.S. $52,735).
Indonesian citizens convicted of assisting illegal immigrants would also face fines and jail time.
Italy Struggles with Floods of Desperate Immigrants
By Tom Rachman, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Rome, August 13, 2004
Italy, reeling from huge influxes of illegal immigrants, is urging the European Union, of which it is a member, to do more to tackle the problem.
Italy is the first stop for illegals trying to reach the European Union from places like Libya, West Africa or the Horn of Africa. But getting there is often treacherous. Christopher Hein, head of the Italian Refugee Council, is quoted as saying that more than 5,000 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe since 1996.
Libya, which estimates it has two million illegal immigrants inside its borders waiting for an opportune moment to make a run by sea for Europe, has been cooperating with Italian authorities in attempting to stem the illegal immigrant flow. But even so, critics say the European Union must step to the fore in controlling the problem.
Rachman writes: "The EU has no common policy on immigration matters. Plus, the open-borders policy that many of its nations share means that once you're inside, you can slip form one country to another without checks." Twenty-five nations are members of the European Union.
Italy To Train Libyan Police To Stop Illegal Immigration
Dow Jones International News, Dateline Rome, August 12, 2004
and
Italy and Libya In Joint Offensive on Migrants
By Sophie Arie, The Guardian, Dateline Rome, August 12, 2004
Italy has reached an agreement with Libya to train its police and eventually launch joint air, sea and land patrols to stop illegal immigrants from leaving Libya for Italy.
It is estimated that some 2 million people have moved towards the north African coast in the hope of being able to reach Europe, via Italy, by boat. Most come to Libya from West Africa or the Horn of Africa. The plan is to set up detentions centers and deport illegals from Libya to their home countries. Libya's foreign minister Muhammad Abdel-Rahman Shaigham called the influx of illegal immigrants "an invasion."
Arie writes: "Since Tripoli decided to come out of the international wilderness and revive ties with the west, cooperation on immigration has begun. Libya has begun to police its southern borders with Chad, Niger and Sudan, with the aim of ultimately pushing the immigration front line further south into Africa."
Russian Police Bust Human Trafficking Scheme in Western Siberia
Financial Times Information; BBC Monitoring International Reports, August 7, 2004
Omsk police have detained a group of 70 illegal Chinese immigrants -- the largest group to be caught this year.
The derelict hostel in which the group was found is believed to have been a "staging post" for illegals. Chinese illegal immigrants in Omsk have been working in construction work and in the growing of vegetables up until now. It is believed they are now engaged in smuggling goods.
It is estimated there are at least 10,000 Chinese illegals in the Omsk region, which is located in Western Siberia.
August 6, 2004
President George Bush
Remarks to the Unity Journalists of Color Convention
Washington Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
Excerpts regarding U.S. immigration policy:
Q. Early in your administration, you talked a good deal about immigration reforms and possibilities there. I have not heard you talk to that issue so much recently. I wonder what you still think is possible, given the circumstances that we find ourselves in today. What is doable, particularly in the short-term?
THE PRESIDENT: Actually, I have talked about it lately. I talked about it this winter, because I think it's necessary that we reform our immigration laws. I believe where there's a willing worker and a willing employer, and they can't find work here in America, the people ought to be allowed to be here legally to work, that's what I believe. And I believe there ought to be a process that allows a person to work here legally, and go home, and come back without fear of being arrested. (Applause.)
I think there needs to be a -- first of all, this will help bring people out of the shadows of our society. This will help kind of legalize a system that takes place everyday, without employers feeling like they have got to be subjected, or employees feeling like they're going to be arrested -- subjected to fines or arrested. And so we need to reform our immigration laws.
Now, the issue there is whether or not people automatically get to step in the front of the line when it comes to citizenship. I don't think they should. I think those who have been waiting in line to be a citizen ought to be allowed to keep that priority in line. I think people ought to -- in this process ought to be allowed to apply for citizenship, but I don't think they ought to be treated specially, in relation to those who have been in line for quite a while. And in order to solve the logjam for citizenship, Congress has got to raise the quotas on who can become a citizen. And I support raising the quotas on certain population groups, like the Mexican nationals, on who can become a citizen. (Applause.)
The long-run solution, particularly to Mexican immigration, is going to be to help Mexico develop a middle class. That's why free trade is so important between our countries. That's why we better be careful about rhetoric that begins to unwind a free trade agreement that is making an enormous difference in the lifestyles of people in Mexico. See, trade, to me, is the great hope for developing nations. That's why I was a strong supporter of AGOA, the African Growth and Opportunity Act. It gives people a chance to have a job that's a meaningful job, because of the trade between the world's largest market and their countries. NAFTA has made a big difference in lifting lives of people. It has improved the living standard in Mexico.
Listen, people are coming to the United States to work from Mexico because they want to make a living for their families. And if they can't make a living for their families at home, they'll come here to work. And, therefore, we must work with Mexico to develop a middle class in the long run, so people can do their duty as a parent at home. That's what they want. And we need to change our immigration laws. Will it get done? Probably not this year. This is an election year -- not much gets done, except for a lot of yelling and elbowing. But I would like to see reasonable immigration reform come out of the Congress.
Our War on Drugs that Fund Terror
By Charles Miranda, The Daily Telegraph, Dateline Fiji, August 5, 2004
This special investigation feature discusses the efforts being made by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to stop crime from reaching Australia.
AFP chief Mick Keelty is quoted as saying: "We are trying to build a barrier to stop transnational crime and the things that go behind terrorism -- people smuggling and narcotics trafficking -- before it gets to Australia."
To this end the AFP has cooperative arrangements with nations like Indonesia, the Solomons, Fiji, the Philippines and East Timor. Last month, Miranda reports, the Pacific Transnational Crime Co-ordination Centre (PTCCC) opened in Suva as part of AFP's intelligence network.
Miranda writes: "The AFP is pursuing clear evidence of links between drug and people smuggling, money laundering and the financing of terrorism."
German Police Arrest 12 Suspects in Strike Against People-Smuggling Operation
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Frankfurt, Germany, August 3, 2004
German police in Cologne arrested eight Chinese nationals suspected of operating a people-smuggling ring and detained 35 illegal Chinese immigrants. It is believed the group entered western Europe via Russia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic.
In Goettingen, police detained another 24 illegal Chinese immigrants found in an apartment building. Two of the illegals broke bones while jumping out of a window in an attempt to evade capture. Police also seized thousands of dollars in cash along with mobile phones and computers.
Nations Are Urged To Fight Illegal Migration
By Shi Jiangtao, South China Morning Post, August 2, 2004
Li Baodong, director of China's Foreign Ministry's department of organizations and conferences, says an unfair international economic order is to blame for the problem of illegal immigration.
Li said narrowing the gap between rich and poor countries would help reduce the root causes for illegal immigration, and he urged wider channels for legal migration.
Li is quoted as saying: "Irregular migration such as people-smuggling and human trafficking ... has a negative impact on social-economic development and undermines social order and security. The developed countries need to provide technical and financial support for the developing countries to enhance their capacity to combat irregular migration."
Li made his remarks at last week's opening ceremony of the Berne Initiative Regional Consultations for Asia, organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Guilin, Guangxi. About 100 delegates representing 30 countries in Asia participated. The Berne Initiative is an inter-governmental consultative process aimed at better managing migration issues.
According to this article, China has cooperative arrangements with more than 40 countries to help control people smuggling. Last year, mainland customs police discovered 7,000 smugglers and arrested 230 smuggling ring organizers.
Illegals Acted on Rumors of Amnesty
By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, August 2, 2004
Although President Bush's proposal for a special guest worker program is not an amnesty program, a significant number of illegal immigrants are believing false rumors that they will be able to live permanently in the United States and work legally.
According to a confidential U.S. Border Patrol report to a Senate committee, nearly 35 percent of illegal immigrants interviewed by agents after their capture at the U.S.-Mexico border between January 7-26 said their belief in an amnesty program motivated their attempt to enter the United States illegally.
Seper writes: "The Border Patrol report said 66,472 illegal aliens were apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border during that 19-day period, about 3,500 a day. The January 2004 total is more than 11 percent higher than the number of apprehensions reported in January 2003, according to patrol records."
President Bush's proposal, publicly announced January 7, 2004, would allow undocumented workers now in the United States to apply for three-year work permits.
See the White House fact sheet.
Triads in Fake Licences Scam; Cops Fooled by Chinese IDs
By Richard Elias, Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail, Ltd., Daily Record, July 20, 2004
Triad criminal groups are selling bogus Chinese driving licenses to illegal immigrants in Scotland for about a pound (U.S. $1.83) each.
Because the fake license, used as proof of identity, is written in Chinese, the police have been letting the suspect go unchallenged, this article says. The fake licenses are especially popular for casino-goers, who need an official form of identification to register.
China Returns Human Smugglers to Hong Kong
United Press International, Dateline Hong Kong, July 12, 2004
Chinese authorities on July 12 turned over to Hong Kong police two brothers suspected of people smuggling.
The two allegedly smuggled the 19 Chinese illegal immigrants into the United States via a container shipped from Hong Kong.
Malaysia Plans Huge New Crackdown on Illegal Workers
Agence France Presse, Dateline Kuala Lumpur, July 12, 2004
Malaysia announced a major new effort to detain and deport illegal immigrants.
Home Minister Azmi Khalid is quoted as saying: "We are serious. There are 1.2 million legal workers and an estimated 1.2 million illegal workers, or maybe more in the country."
Some 400,000 members of the People's Volunteer Corps, uniformed personnel who have some policing powers, will be used to round up illegal aliens; Malaysian authorities are working on the logistics of where to house detainees and how to send them to their home countries.
Most illegal workers in Malaysia come from Indonesia and the Philippines.
Malaysia is planning to issue a new identity card -- a chip-based "MyKad" containing a range of information about the bearer-- to all residents of Malaysia.
Costa Rica Tightens Visa Rules on Asians, Arabs, Cubans
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline San Jose, Costa Rica, July 8, 2004
In an effort to crack down on illegal immigration, Costa Rica has announced it is tightening its visa rules on visitors from Asia, the Middle East, Cuba, and African countries such as Nigeria and Ethiopia. The new measures cover 40 countries in all.
Immigration Director Miguel Badilla is quoted as saying: "We agreed on a decree that sets out some modifications to the immigration law with more stringent measures for the entry of Chinese, Arabs and Cubans who have restricted visas."
Taiwan a Let-Down for Illegal Immigrants
By Lawrence Chung, Straits Times (Singapore), Dateline Taipei, July 8, 2004
Illegal immigrants from mainland China who hoped to strike it rich in Taiwan are finding their dreams are being dashed.
Chung writes: "Jobs (in Taiwan) are scarce, illegals live in fear of being caught, and China is slow to repatriate those sent to detention camps."
Taiwan's current lackluster economy makes getting even a manual job tough; unemployment has risen to 4.5 percent from 2.5 percent a decade ago. Even prostitutes are having to drop their prices, according to this report.
China has responded to the Taiwan's election of pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian by refusing to take back its illegal immigrants. The result has been overcrowding at detention centers is Taiwan -- some 2,660 mainland illegal immigrants are currently waiting to be repatriated.
Costa Rica Tightens Visa Rules on Asians, Arabs, Cubans
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline San Jose, Costa Rica, July 8, 2004
In an effort to crack down on illegal immigration, Costa Rica has announced it is tightening its visa rules on visitors from Asia, the Middle East, Cuba, and African countries such as Nigeria and Ethiopia. The new measures cover 40 countries in all.
Immigration Director Miguel Badilla is quoted as saying: "We agreed on a decree that sets out some modifications to the immigration law with more stringent measures for the entry of Chinese, Arabs and Cubans who have restricted visas."
Passports Crackdown
The Express, July 7, 2004
European Union ministers have agreed to share intelligence in an effort to stop stolen documents being used by illegal immigrants.
The Daily Express reported that some 800 stolen passports go missing every day in Great Britain.
House International Relations Committee
Hearing on Stolen Passports
June 23, 2004
Intelligence officials report that 80,000 blank passports have been stolen from 36 countries in recent years, but the true total "could well be staggering," according to Representative Tom Lantos, ranking member and Democrat of California.
Speaking at the same June 23 hearing, Frank Moss, the deputy secretary for passport services of the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, said that "the overwhelming majority" of illegal immigrants now in the United States entered "without inspection"; that is, they entered the country illegally by crossing land borders.
When asked about illegal immigrants from China, Moss said that organized smuggling rings were "the major source" of illegal migration from China.
See the prepared testimony.
Japan Cracks Down on Illegal Aliens, Stoking Debate about Imported Crime, Homegrown Bias
By Gary Schaefer, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Tokyo, June 3, 2004
Public debate continues about the Japanese government's decision to solicit tips over the Internet via its Immigration Bureau website about suspected illegal immigrants.
Some say it helps enforce public safety; others say it scapegoats foreigners.
Schaefer writes: "Authorities cite some scary-sounding statistics: Arrests of foreigners jumped 23 percent in 2003, hitting a record high for a third straight year. More than half of those nabbed were illegal aliens, and almost two-thirds of crimes by foreigners involved groups of two or more....
"Rights groups, however, see something different: a disturbing trend toward scapegoating in a country where foreigners make up less than 2 percent of the population of 127 million." Support groups for foreign workers say that while crime in Japan has risen to record highs, the number committed by foreigners remains as small as their population.
Chinese Community Calls for More Action from Labour
By Chris Brown, Daily Post (Liverpool), May 20, 2004
The Chinese community in Liverpool wants the British and Chinese governments to work together to stem the flow of Chinese illegal immigrants into the United Kingdom.
Simon Wong, organizer of the Chinese Wah Sing association in Liverpool's Chinatown, is quoted as saying: "What the (UK) government need to do is work with the Chinese authorities and put an advert out on the television, which is very important in China, telling people that life is not a lot better over here if you cant work." Illegal immigrants in Britain, he said, can't work without the proper documentation, "but they cannot return home as well, because of the terrible pressure that their families are under in China because of the money they owe."
Earlier this year, about 20 Chinese illegal immigrants drowned while illegally picking cockles on the beaches of the dangerous Morecambe Bay. Their tragedy has become emblematic of the ruthless exploitation of migrant workers by gangmasters and smugglers.
Police Stop Half a Million Romanians Trying To Leave County
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Bucharest, Romania, April 15, 2004
Border police have stopped half a million Romanians from leaving the country illegally in the past three months.
Most were stopped because they didn't have the appropriate amount of money or health insurance to go to an European country or they were suspected of seeking to work illegally abroad.
This year, about 7,000 Romanians have been expelled from Western Europe and banned from leaving Romania for up to five years. In 2003, one million Romanians were prevented from leaving the country.
Romania, which hopes to join the European Union in 2007, has been told to crack down on illegal immigration.
Tougher Measures To Thwart Human Smuggling
By Hua Hua, China Daily, April 14, 2004
According to China's Ministry of Public Security, from October 10, 2003 to March 10, 2004, some 5,286 stowaways and 444 snakeheads (people smugglers) were arrested. Most were from Fujian Province and were headed for North American and western European countries.
Li Zhongxun is the most recent people smuggler to be convicted in Chinese courts. He received a sentence of 20 years in prison from the court of Wenzhou in Zhejian Province for his role in smuggling some 541 people to European countries.
Li charged U.S. $15,660 to smuggle Chinese "students" through "summer camps" sponsored by the Sino-French "cultural exchange centre" he established in France in 2000.
Russia Expels 350 Illegal Migrants, Mostly Chinese, from Far East
Agence France-Presse, Dateline Vladivostok, Russia, April 1, 2004
Russia's March 20-30 crackdown on illegal immigration in its Far East region resulted in the expulsion of 350 illegal immigrants, including 247 Chinese.
During the 10-day sweep, Russian police checked more than 3,700 businesses and 21,000 foreigners.
Russia, which shares a 2,500-mile-long border with China, has seen its Chinese population surge from a few thousand in 1989 to 3.26 million in 2002.
Ethnic Russians have been leaving the Far East in search of better economic opportunities elsewhere ever since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Illegal Stay in Japan by Chinese Up 13 Percent
Jinni Press English News Service, Dateline Tokyo, March 26, 2004
The number of Chinese illegal immigrants in Japan increased 13 percent last year, according to this report based on government sources.
There are 219,418 illegal immigrants in Japan as of January 1, 2004: 46,425 South Koreans; 33,522 Chinese; 31,428 Filipinos.
Sub-Saharan Migrants in Libya Face Backlash; Gaddafi Ratchets Back Pan-African Policies
By Daniel Williams, The Washington Post, Dateline Tripoli, Libya, March 11, 2004
In the 1990s, Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi opened his country's borders to thousands of sub-Saharan Africans in the name of African unity; about 600,000 came.
Today, Libya's leadership has ratified laws to restrict immigration and to expatriate immigrants who have no steady jobs -- a move that is popular with Libya's citizens, who resent the newcomers.
Some Africans come to Libya as their first step in an attempt to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea and entering Italy. They use rickety boats to make the trip -- 200 drowned last year when their fishing boat capsized.
But the dangers do not deter them. During the summer season of 2003, as many of 2,600 Africans landed each month on the Italian island of Lampedus, located between Libya and Sicily.
Williams writes: "African migrants speculate that the withdrawal of Libya's welcome will cause a spike in the number of people making the trip (to Italy) by boat next summer.
Harbi Abdulahi, a Somali in Libya, is quoted as saying: "We are trapped. Life here is not going to get better, and no one wants to go back across the Sahara to his home. I think Africans may try to take any risk to get to Italy."
Soft-Touch Dutch Get Tough on Illegals
By Allan Hall, Daily Mail, February 18, 2004
The Netherlands approved on February 17 Europe's toughest asylum law under which 26,000 failed asylum seekers will be removed from the country.
Dutch law enforcement now have the power to arrest and detain illegal immigrants and transport them to "departure centers" for deportation. Those who refuse to leave can be jailed for up to six months.
But the new law stops short of enforced repatriation and families cannot be broken up.
A separate law will allow police to evict illegal immigrants from their homes and seal the buildings.
According to this article, the number of asylum seekers coming to the Netherlands as actually dropped from 43,560 in 2000 to 18,670 in 2002 and an estimated 10,000 in 2003.
EU States Agree to Let in Chinese on Tourist Visas
By Richard Spencer, The Daily Telegraph (London), Dateline Beijing, February 13, 2004
Twelve of the 15 members of the European Union Signed an agreement with China which will allow Chinese tour groups to visit Europe.
The agreement does not include Britain, Denmark, or Ireland.
Under the agreement, visa procedures will be simplified for group tours. The Chinese government will give approval for companies to advertise organized group tours; the China National Tourism Administration will be responsible for screening potential tourists, including their financial means.
Tour groups are becoming increasingly popular as a means to smuggle people. (See: Tour de Farce, by Mark O'Neill, South China Morning Post, February 4, 2004)
An estimated 650,000 Chinese already visit the EU each year.
Tour de Farce
By Mark O'Neill, South China Morning Post, February 4, 2004
Chinese mainlanders wishing to illegally immigrate to other countries are increasingly using the emerging foreign tour industry to do so, according to this article.
It is estimated that between one and three percent -- 60,000 to 70,000 in 2003 -- of Chinese mainland tourists never return home.
Chinese human smugglers, O'Neill writes, "have seized on the rapid increase in countries that issue tourist visas to mainlanders as a golden opportunity to smuggle people to their destinations in a cheaper and more convenient way than traditional, more precarious routes -- hidden in ships, trains and container trucks."
Huang Lunlong, a professor at Nanjin University who specializes in immigration issues, is quoted as saying that although the numbers of Chinese illegal immigrants is dropping, those who do leave the country are favoring tour groups to do so.
Huang Lunlong is quoted as saying: "In the past 10 years, there have been several tragedies involving those being smuggled, such as the case in June 2000 in Dover in which 58 people suffocated to death in the back of a truck. This made people believe that this kind of smuggling was dangerous, expensive and had a low success rate. Snakeheads charge U.S. $30,000 to U.S. $50,000 to smuggle someone to the U.S. In some cases, the price can reach U.S. $100,000. Why pay that when 100,000 yuan (U.S. $12,082) covers the cost of a tour and the required bond?"
China is encouraging its citizens to travel abroad and spend money as a way to offset its enormous trade surpluses with rich countries. But Chinese tour agencies are subject to having their licenses suspended if their clients overstay their visas.
To prevent this, O'Neil writes, Chinese tour agencies demand that their clients provide proof of a job, bank account, ownership of an apartment and the posting of a bond of 20,000 to 100,000 yuan (U.S. $2,400 to $12,082) that is returned when the client returns to China.
But the agencies find that verifying client documents is difficult. Jian Weihao, director of the foreign department of the Shanghai Spring and Autumn Travel Agency, is quoted as saying: "We are a commercial business and it is very hard for us to investigate the authenticity of these documents, which are confidential. We cannot ask banks about their clients and we cannot go through the police."
Most of the fake tourists try to get to the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan and South Korea. Chinese can get tourist visas now to more than 28 countries.
O'Neill writes: "The World Tourism Organisation predicts that by 2020 more than 100 million mainlanders will holiday overseas."
Immigrants "To Dominate Growth in Population"
By Philip Johnston, The Daily Telegraph (London), February 2, 2004
Immigration will be responsible for almost two thirds of Britain's population growth over the next 25 years, according to a study recently completed by the Government Actuary's Department.
Johnston writes: "Immigration is now the highest in British history with an average net increase of 153,000 for each of the past five years. The Government says more young migrant workers are needed because the indigenous population is not growing fast enough and it is growing older."
The eastern European countries about to join the European Union this year may effect Britain's overall immigration picture in that the United Kingdom is the only major economy to give immediate rights to work to the 70 million nations of the new member states.
Big Trouble in Little China
By Alfred Lee, Straits Times (Singapore), Dateline London, February 1, 2004
Gerrard Street, in the heart of London's Chinatown, has seen a rise in violence this past year between Mandarin-speaking refugees from north China, Cantonese speakers from Guangdong and Hong Kong and illegal immigrants from Fujian.
Lee writes: "Brawls are part of a violent new phenomenon which has hit Britain's Chinese community -- turf wars between different clans and the intense competition for jobs. The number of jobs available to illegal immigrants has dwindled in the past two years because of a big rise in the number of refugees entering Britain from China."
Mandarin speakers from Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Heibei and other northern Chinese provinces found themselves completing against the Cantonese-speaking illegal immigrants preferred by the rich Cantonese-speaking owners of local Chinese restaurants.
The three groups rarely interact, according to this article. Mandarin-speaking illegal immigrants have been forced to northern England, Wales and Ireland to look for jobs in small factories. Cantonese speakers find jobs in small businesses around London.
But illegal immigrants from Fujian out-number both Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking job seekers and seem to have won the turf wars in the Leicester Square area.
Landmark United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants Enters into Force
Press Release from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna January 27, 2004
The Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, supplementary to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, will enter into force on 28 January 2004.
According to this UN press release, the Protocol "a landmark for the fight against the smuggling of migrants and another milestone to the global effort to combat transnational organized crime."
See the full text of the press release.
See the text of the Protocol.
2003
Closure of Sangatte Is No Solution
By Nick Fagge, The Express, November 6, 2003
The closure of the Sangatte asylum camp in France, which had at one time housed thousands of illegal immigrants trying to reach Britain, has not done much to stop the flow of would-be migrants, according to French police.
Frontier Police Chief Pierre Kirch is quoted as saying: "Since the beginning of 2003, we have stopped 15,000 migrants in the Calais area, many more than once. And in the same time, 264 human traffickers have been arrested."
A spokesman for the French frontier police is quoted as saying: "In Calais, police have detained between 60 and 100 every week since the Sangatte centre closed down. When it was open, we knew where they were. Now they are everywhere, squatting in empty buildings or living in car parks."
According to Kirch, Iraqis and Sudanese comprise most of the inflow of illegal immigrants.
Taiwan Unhappy Over Growing Number of Illegal Immigrants from China
By William Foreman, The Associated Press, Dateline Hsinchu, Taiwan, September 6, 2003
The number of illegal immigrants from mainland China caught by Taiwanese authorities has hit a nine-year high of 2,511, according to Taiwan's Interior Ministry.
Taiwan is unhappy that China is so slow in taking back illegal immigrants. Part of the problem is that the two sides don't have formal relations, Foreman writes.
More women than men seem to be trying to reach Taiwan. So far this year, 2,110 mainland women have been apprehended by Taiwanese officials compared to 401 men. Mainland men used to come to Taiwan for factory jobs, but these jobs have moved to the mainland. The women, however, are attracted by the big money they think they can earn in Taiwan's brothels and bars.
In northern Taiwan, the Hsinchu Refugee Camp for mainland Chinese now houses more than 800 female illegal immigrants from the People's Republic of China. The camp's director, Lai Hsieh-yi, believes most mainland women know what they are getting into when they promise their smugglers $5,800 to $8,800 to get to Taiwan.
Lai is quoted as saying: "Just a minority of these women have been tricked. Most of them knew how they were going to make money."
Italian-Albanian Immigration Accord Could Be Model for Europe
By Claudine Renaud, Agence France-Presse, June 25, 2003
A 1997 Italian-Albanian cooperation deal for dealing with illegal immigrants could be a model for Europe, Italian officials say.
The accord contains a simplified repatriation scheme, quotas for seasonal workers, and joint patrols in Albanian waters of the Adriatic Sea, which separates Italy from Albania. Enforcement of the accord, writes Renaud, "has basically stopped the immigrant tide across the Adriatic from Albania to Italy, which rose to a high-water mark of 45,000 in 1999."
Andi Gjonej, a senior Albanian-born official with the Rome-based International Organization for Migration, is quoted as saying: "Since August 2002 only two boats have crossed and they were intercepted."
Tiny Pacific Island Is Big Worry for U.S.
By Glenn R. Simpson, The Wall Street Journal, Dateline Washington, May 16, 2003
American officials, writes Simpson, "are seething at Nauru, which during the 1990s set up a loosely regulated offshore-banking sector...for selling its own passports." The U.S. fear is that these passports could get into the hands of terrorists and other criminals.
Nauru, an independent republic, is a tiny island of just 8-square miles located between Australia and Hawaii. Its only source of income -- phosphate, a rich fertilizer -- has become depleted, leaving its 12,329 citizens impoverished.
Five years ago, Nauru set up "economic citizenship" for wealthy foreigners with money to invest in the country. More than 1,000 passports were processed at $15,000 and up. The program was set up and managed by Transpacific Development, an incorporated entity formed by Paul Lee Der, a Maryland man imprisoned in 1994 for selling securities illegally.
Der is under investigation. The U.S. Treasury Department, acting in concert with the Justice and State departments, plans to prohibit U.S. banks from any dealings with Nauru institutions under the 2001 Patriot Act.
New Zealand Plans Law Switch on Stolen Passports
by Scott MacLeod, New Zealand Herald, May 2, 2003
New Zealand is spearheading an effort to develop a cooperative effort among 30 Pacific Rim nations that would allow them to quickly share information on stolen passports.
Under the proposal, participating countries would enact laws that would allow them to share, via computer, details of stolen passport and travel documents with other participant countries. The hope is that this new, faster system will put the brakes on international criminals who use stolen passports for smuggling people and illegal goods.
According to MacLeod, "New Zealand passports are highly prized in the criminal world because they attract little attention from border authorities." A New Zealand passport can command $60,000 on the international black market; about 12,000 are lost or stolen each year.
Belarusian Officials Complain About Number of Illegal Immigrants Passing Through Their Country
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Minsk, Belarus, April 18, 2003
A growing number of illegal immigrants are using Belarus to reach the West.
Andrei Savinikh, Belarus' Foreign Ministry spokesman, is quoted as saying: "Illegal migrants have become a headache for the Belarusian government since the path to the West lies exactly through Belarus."
Last year, Belarusian border guards apprehended some 1,500 illegal immigrants. Most were from Afghanistan, China, Vietnam and countries of North Africa. They enter Belarus via Russia, trying to reach Poland or Lithuania to get to Western Europe.
UNHCR Urges OSCE States to Distinguish Between Human Trafficking and Smuggling
OSCE Press Release, April 8, 2003
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ruud Lubbers urged the OSCE's (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) 55 participating States to recognize the distinction between human trafficking and smuggling and said many refugees and asylum-seekers were now forced to turn to smugglers to reach safety.
According to Lubbers: "Many OSCE countries are faced with mixed migratory flows including refugees, asylum-seekers, economic migrants who resort to smuggling for a lack of a legitimate alternative, and persons trafficked for the purpose of exploitation. Smugglers and traffickers often use the same routes, and in some cases there are direct links between the criminal networks involved. For asylum systems to function well, it is vital that they take into account the broader issue of irregular migration and forces that shape it."
Full text of OSCE press release
UN Palermo Protocols
Latest news from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Thais Send Accused to Australia
Courier-Mail, February 24, 2003
and
Iraqi Extradited Over People Smuggling
By Sue Dunlevy, Daily Telegraph, February 24, 2003
and
Australia to Try Alleged Iraqi People Smuggler
Reuters News, Dateline Sydney, February 23, 2003
An alleged people smuggler has been extradited from Thailand to stand trial in Australia -- the first such successful extradition.
Iraqi citizen Achmad Hassan Jwad (also reported in the press by the name Ali Hassan Abdolamir Al Jenabi) faces prosecution for 22 people smuggling offenses under Australia's 1958 Migration Act. Most of the offenses are related to Jwad's alleged involvement in smuggling some 359 illegal immigrants to Australia aboard four boats in 2000 and 2001.
Under tough Australian laws against people smuggling introduced in 1999, Jwad could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Thai officials arrested Jwad at Australia's request in June last year after he flew from Indonesia to Bangkok carrying a fake Moroccan passport. He served two months in a Bangkok detention center for that offense. Australia lodged an extradition request in June 2002, which a Thai court approved in December.
Illegal immigrants who were transported to Australia on Jwad's ships are expected to testify against Jwad.
TV Report Describes People Trafficking Through Ukraine
BBC Monitoring International Reports, February 22, 2003
Human smugglers are increasingly using Ukraine as a transit country for moving illegal migrants to Western Europe, according to a report aired by Ukrainian STB TV on January 17.
Illegal migrants first became a problem in the early 1990s, after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the rise of the concept of "transparent borders" between former Soviet republics. What started as a trickle of illegal migrants is now becoming a steady stream facilitated by international crime groups.
Most of the illegal migrants are Afghan, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian, Kurdish, and Vietnamese, and most are bound for Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands or Sweden. Because Ukraine already has "fairly well-developed" communities of Vietnamese, Chinese and Afghan nationals in several cities, the suspicion is that ethnically based organized groups are facilitating the human-smuggling business.
Ukraine officials fear that human-smuggling transit routes can be easily employed by narcotics and weapons smugglers as well as terrorists.
E.U. Assembles Flotilla To Halt Migrant Ships; "Operation Ulysses" Human-Smuggling Patrol May Herald European Police Force
By Peter Goodspeed, National Post, January 30, 2003
and
Five E.U. Nations Join Forces Against Illegal Immigrant Boats
Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Madrid, Spain, January 28, 2003
Five European Union members -- Spain, Britain, France, Italy and Portugal -- have agreed to designate a total of six ships to patrol the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean areas off their coasts to apprehend vessels carrying illegal immigrants.
Initially, the patrols will cover the eastern Mediterranean. Next month, patrols will be expanded to the Atlantic Ocean area off Africa's Saharan coast.
The patrols -- consisting of coast guard cutters, police and navy patrol boats, and customs ships -- will have the authority to board any suspect vessels and escort them to the nearest E.U. port.
Greece, Norway, Germany, Poland and Austria will send observers to take part in the operation.
Angel Acebes, Spain's Interior Minister, is quoted as saying: "We are surely seeing the birth of a common police force for the European Union to protect our borders. If we have enough success and coordination, this can be the base, the pillar of a future border police."
Some three million illegal immigrants are estimated to be in the 15 states that make up the European Union.
Republic of Korea, Malaysia Join U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative
From U.S. Customs Service news releases, January 21, 2003
The Republic of Korea and Malaysia have agreed to participate in the U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative (CSI).
CSI is a U.S. Customs initiative designed to prevent the smuggling of terrorists or terrorist weapons via ocean-going cargo containers.
Launched by U.S. Customs in January 2002, CSI consists of four core elements. These include: (1) using automated information to identify and target high-risk containers; (2) pre-screening those containers identified as high-risk before they arrive at U.S. ports; (3) using detection technology to quickly pre-screen high-risk containers; and (4) using smarter, tamper proof containers.
See the full texts of U.S. Customs Service news releases on the agreements with the Republic of Korea and Malaysia.
2002
Snakeheads Opt for Air Travel to Smuggle Illegal Immigrants
By Sara Bradford, South China Morning Post, December 15, 2002
Chinese human smugglers, or "snakeheads," are finding the use of shipping containers for their "clients" not only risky but unprofitable, according to a Hong Kong criminologist.
Dr. Chu Yiu-kong, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Hong Kong, is quoted as saying the new trend is to move small group of "tourists" from mainland China using bogus passports and travel documents while in transit in Hong Kong. The illegal immigrants then change destinations to countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Entrepreneurs, not the triads, control the human smuggling business, according to Chu. Chu is quoted as saying: "Human smugglers are usually illegal entrepreneurs doing some sort of international trade and follow the roll of the market. They use the minimum resources to make the maximum profit, and if they find the risk is too high, then they will not do it."
Increased vigilance by law enforcement has also helped to decrease the use of cargo containers for human smuggling, but Hong Kong remains an attractive transit point because it is a convenient and busy sea and air hub.
People Smuggled into Canada at Apparent Bargain Rate
Toronto Star (Ontario Edition), December 4, 2002
and
Capture Prompts Fears of New Wave in Human Smuggling
By Adrian Humphreys, The National Post (Canada), December 4, 2002
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) may have discovered a discount people-smuggling ring.
Eight Chinese nationals were caught trying to illegally enter Canada by posing as South Korean tourists. But investigators say these illegal immigrants may have been charged only 12,000 Canadian dollars (US$7,720.10) instead of the usual U.S.$50,000 to $60,000.
Seong Hun Kim of South Korea was arrested in connection with the smuggling operation and charged with offenses under Canada's new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The new law calls for fines of up to $1 million and life imprisonment.
Ko-Lin Chin, a criminal justice professor at Rutgers University and an expert on illegal immigration, is reported as saying this group may be from the northeastern provinces in China. Humphreys quotes Chin as saying: "There is a significant price difference for Chinese to come to North America -- where you are coming from decides the price. Demand in Fujian is greater than the demand elsewhere. And the level of difficulty for smuggling Fujianese is far greater than for smuggling northeasterners." According to Chin, typical prices for an illegal immigrant trying to get to North America from northeastern China run from U.S.$10,000 to U.S.$15,000.
People from Fujian started coming to the United States illegally beginning in the 1980s. In the 1990s they were followed by illegal immigrants from Zhejiang province. Now, it appears northeasterners are beginning to make the journey, Humphreys writes.
France Bans New Arrivals at Refugee Center Known for Illegal Immigration to Britain
By Elaine Ganley, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Paris, November 5, 2002
The Red Cross refugee center at Sangatte, France closed its doors to new arrivals on November 5. It is slated to shut down completely in April 2003.
Sangatte, which had been set up three years ago in an abandoned Eurotunnel hangar, was used by thousands of illegal immigrants as a staging area to sneak across the English Channel to Britain, where asylum laws are more lenient.
Some 18,500 refugees tried to reach Britain using the Channel Tunnel during the first half of 2001; six were killed and 100 injured.
At the news of Sangatte's closure to new arrivals, British Home Secretary David Blunkett is quoted as saying: "From today, the Sangatte center will no longer draw would-be illegal immigrants to northern France, and traffickers will no longer be able to use it to ply their evil trade in human life."
Irresistible Attraction
The Economist, November 2, 2002
This in-depth article explores migration issues. It notes that "most very poor countries send few people abroad." Since immigration flows are largely fueled by economic incentives, industrialization actually encourages it.
Factory jobs provide the money for people to travel to countries where wages are far higher. This article notes a study done by Frank Pieke of Oxford University on emigration from China's Fujian province. The typical scenario, according to Pieke, is that a woman will get a factory job in China to support a man who goes abroad to find a job that pays much more.
NOTE:Frank Pieke is the principal investigator for a project called "At the Margins of the Chinese World System: The Fuzhou Diaspora in Europe." See the project web site and Pieke's briefing paper.
Pieke also described the project in a paper presented at the conference on "Transnational Communities" held in Manchester, England, May 16-18, 1998.
U.N. Number of World's Migrants Reaches 175 Million; Migration Population Has Doubled in Twenty-Five Years
M2 Presswire, October 29, 2002
In its latest study, the United Nations Population Division estimates that some 175 million people currently reside in a country other than where they were born -- double the number since 1975.
Sixty percent of the world's migrants live in developed regions. Most live in Europe (56 million) followed by Asia (50 million) and North America (41 million).
See the United Nations Population Division web site for more information.
The Trail That Leads to Misery and Death
Liverpool Echo, October 16, 2002
The United Kingdom is seeing an upswing in Chinese illegal immigrants.
The Chinese, mostly from Fujian province, cross through Russia, Hungary and the Czech Republic before entering Western Europe.
"There have been numerous reports of people being beaten, and even murdered, en route," this report says.
The illegal immigrants meet at prearranged check-points in France, where they can be held for weeks by gangsters in abysmal conditions. They reach the UK via ferry, hidden in lorries containing anything from fruit to industrial equipment.
In the most serious incident, 58 illegal immigrants died of heat and lack of air in a lorry in Dover.
Shetland Gateway for Human Traffickers; Remote Islands Route Used to Land Illegal Immigrants
By Billy Briggs, The Herald (Glasgow), September 30, 2002
Organized crime -- including the Russian mafia, Chinese snakehead gangs, and criminals from Eastern Europe -- are building networks with Scottish and Irish criminals and using those countries to transport illegal immigrants, this report says.
In order to avoid border controls, people smugglers are entering the United Kingdom by using a circuitous route to the Shetland Islands via the Faroe Islands north of Scotland.
"The human traffickers are targeting both islands through a number of routes from Scandinavia, Russia and Europe," Briggs writes. "With people smuggling now the third most profitable activity for organised crime worldwide, it is feared the problem along Scotland's coastline and islands will escalate."
Illegal immigrants that have been apprehended so far have come from China, India, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Albania and Bulgaria.
Immigrant Populations of Europe
Birmingham Post, August 1, 2002
Hundred of thousands of illegal migrants from Africa, eastern Europe, the Middle East, central Asia and China try to enter the European Union (E.U.) annually, according to this report.
Of the E.U. countries named in this article, Germany topped the list with between 500,000 and 1.5 million illegal immigrant living in-country; about 100,000 illegal are smuggled in each year.
France has an estimated 400,000 illegal immigrants living inside its borders. In 2000, the most asylum applications in France were made by Chinese, followed by Turks, this report says.
Italy has about 300,000 illegal immigrants, which is a conservative estimate.
Vietnam Calls for Comprehensive Solution to Illegal Migration Problem
Bernama - The Malaysian National News Agency, July 16, 2002
Vietnam is urging the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to work cooperatively to control illegal immigration problems, according to this report.
Addressing the Southeast Asian Conflict Studies Network regional workshop in Penang, Malaysia, Trinh Thi Tam of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry is quoted as saying that illegal immigration problems "are regional and global problems which require a strong, determined and coordinated response." She urged greater information sharing, technical cooperation, capacity building in areas dealing with document fraud, and the development of effective legal frameworks.
Trinh noted statistics provided by the International Organization of Migration's Report 2000 which estimates that there are some 150 million migrants, half of which are being assisted by smugglers. She also said illegal migration compromised national sovereignty and the rule of law and created significant political, economic, social and security challenges, according to this report.
ASEAN is comprised of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. See the ASEAN web site.
Nothing Jolly About the Pirates Bringing Terror to the High Seas
By Thomas Withington, Scotland on Sunday, July 14, 2002
Ship piracy is growing and the pirates are becoming more violent, this report says.
According to figures provided by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), a global piracy watchdog, there were 87 reported incidents of piracy from January to March this year compared with 67 during the corresponding period last year.
The Straits of Malacca, between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, and the coast of Somalia are the two hottest spots on the globe for pirates, Withington writes.
Shipping accounts for about 90 percent of all global trade, but the pirates are not just after the freight. Ships seized by pirates can be registered under a false identity and used for moving drugs, arms or humans.
Chris Smith, deputy director of the International Policy Institute in London, is quoted as saying: "Phantom ships or pirate vessels may operate as a covert means of moving people across borders illegally."
See the website for The IMB Pirating Reporting Centre.
Vessels Operating Under Flags of Convenience
Hearing before the Special Oversight Panel on the Merchant Marine of the House National Security Committee
June 13, 2002
From Federal News Service transcripts
Vessels operating under "flags of convenience" (FOC) have been linked to the registration of hijacked ships, illegal alien smuggling, phantom ships, illegal fishing, and most recently, to international terrorism, according to David Heindel. Heindel is the second vice chairman of the seafarers section of the International Transport Workers Federation and the secretary-treasurer of the Seafarers International Union, which represents thousands of merchant seamen employed on U.S. vessels engaged in both domestic and international maritime trades.
In his testimony, Heindel said that governments that provide FOCs "see registrations as a service that can be sold to foreign ship owners wishing to escape the financial, safety and social consequences of registration under their own national flags."
He said that "a requirement for transparency of ownership must be a part of any new maritime regime." Heindel urged |
