Migration: Explosion of flows to Greece in the coming weeks

The EYP focuses on the southern coasts of Crete and Rhodes, using relevant information on upgrading the means and communication systems used by traffickers

Four remanded in custody traffickerswho were arrested consecutively, one in Nea Manolada Ilia last April, two in September at Kommos beach in Mesara, Crete, and one, of Palestinian origin, on the rocky island of Ro, on October 4, shortly before the “Hamas” attack on burden of Israeli civilians, it seems that they are – among other things – members of international organizations, which draw up “transportation” plans of hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions refugees from the Gaza Stripthe Syriahim Lebanonthe Jordan and Egypt towards the West.

During their preliminary investigation, it came up a wealth of information about accomplices, their routes and connections with the European nucleus.

One of the arrested traffickers spoke about a possible explosion of migration flows in the Mediterranean in the coming weeks

Due to the seriousness of their apologies, it was deemed appropriate to preserve their anonymity, while one – showing a practical interest in cooperation – spoke in detail about a possible explosion migration flows in the Mediterranean in the coming weeks. And their ramification in the Greek territory is such that in just one limited-scale police operation in the middle of the week, in the apartments of 3 people involved, in Paleo Faliro and Nea Smyrni, 662 forged documents (identity cards, residence permits) were seized.

It was also revealed that the foreigners in question were trafficking immigrants with pleasure boats from Izmir, they had a developed network of payments and money transfers, while the amounts they collected varied – depending on the type and origin of the document – from 300-600 euros and for each illegal promotion received from 4,500 to 6,000 euros per person. The EYP focuses on the southern coasts of Crete and Rhodes, using relevant information on upgrading the means and communication systems used by traffickers, but also on the new “concentration camps” in Tobruk, Libya, and in Northern Egypt, near the Libyan border.

Read more: Migration minefield – The movement of people from the war zone of Israel is just around the corner

NGOs in action

Among the suspects are also European citizen-members of a Non-Governmental Organization, known for committing similar criminal acts in Lesbos in 2016 and 2022, as well as in Leros and Samos in 2018. According to their practice, they provide instructions and directions to traffickers individuals, enforcing compliance with them, before departure, during sailing and upon arrival of the boat on a Greek island, either verbally or using encrypted communication applications.

Members of the NGO hide the new entrants in inaccessible land areas, after first dividing them into smaller groups, and then communicating with the brains of the circuit, while informing the Coast Guard of supposedly urgent humanitarian aid. At the same time, the number of “undocumented” immigrants is growing alarmingly, since it seems that the Palestinian caravans are joined by foreigners from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, who have been waiting for a long time in the huge camps of Northern Egypt and Southern Turkey for the opportunity for the outbreak of a war crisis, which would allow them to enter the European territories with a refugee profile.

The forecasts are truly nightmarish. In addition to the 3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, there are another 2.5 million uprooted in Jordan and 3 million in Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, many of whom are looking for ways to escape. The issue was raised in the recent telephone conversation between Prime Minister Mr. Mitsotakis and Egyptian President Al Sisi, the result of which was “continuously fed with new information”.

Read more: A migrant smuggling and counterfeiting ring with accomplices in Turkey was dismantled – How it operated

The english”

In this context, as Sunday’s “Afternoon” is able to know, information has been exchanged on the so-called “Englishman”, a 40-year-old Egyptian, who was arrested on June 22 in London by the National Crime Agency (NCA) shortly after the tragic shipwreck of Pylos and is accused of having organized at least 2,000 “illegal missions” in Greece and Italy during his years of activity. In 2018, he took a leading role in a regional network of Crete, working in collaboration with the network of Alexandria, Egypt.

That group of 15 people (among them 6 Greeks) had been disbanded and during the trial it emerged that they picked up the refugees and, each time using the appropriate vehicles, transported them to the hinterland of Heraklion Prefecture. The immigrants settled in houses, warehouses or barns. In the aforementioned dwellings, members of the spiral allegedly provided them with accommodation and food, however – as stated in the indictment – they watched over them holding weapons. Others provided the migrants with fake passports and tickets, and then transported them to the port of Heraklion, from where they arrived by ferry to Piraeus. The “Englishman” had managed to escape from Greece at that time.

Published in Sunday Afternoon