Iraqi Kurds arrested in Italian bust up of trafficking ring
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi Kurds were among 19 people arrested by Italian police breaking up a trafficking ring that smuggled migrants into Europe.
Italian police announced the arrests on Saturday, the result of a two-year investigation into a network that was “dedicated to facilitating the entrance, stay, and transit toward northern Europe of migrants coming from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.”
The 19 people arrested include Kurds from Iraq, Afghans, and Italians.
According to police, migrants paid about 6,000 euros ($7,270) for the trip. They were brought from Turkey and Greece by boat to Italy where they were issued with false documents. Migrants who wanted to remain in Italy were given false work contracts so they could apply for permission to stay. Others were smuggled into France.
The smuggling ring was an “essential link of connection with criminal groups active in Turkey and Greece,” said police.
Thousands of Kurds from Iraq and Iran have made the decision to emigrate to Europe in search of a better life, risking their lives on the deadly journey.
With rising unemployment and crushing US sanctions, many from the Kurdish provinces of Iran have made the trip. The coronavirus pandemic has not deterred those determined to forge a new life in Europe.
From Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, more than half a million people have migrated abroad in the past five years, according to the Summit Foundation for Refugee and Displaced Affairs. The town of Ranya alone has seen as many as 800 people move away in a single month.
Kurdistan Region parliamentary sessions to discuss the problem of youth migration ended in protests by lawmakers demanding the legislature focus on the economic situation and budget talks with Baghdad. The head of the Kurdistan Islamic Group, Abdulsattar Majid, said the financial crisis is the root of the problem. “Why do the youth emigrate? Isn’t it because they don’t receive their salaries,” he said.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has struggled to pay its civil servants on time and in full for years, because of the war with the Islamic State, falling oil prices, and budget disputes with the federal government.
Italian police announced the arrests on Saturday, the result of a two-year investigation into a network that was “dedicated to facilitating the entrance, stay, and transit toward northern Europe of migrants coming from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.”
The 19 people arrested include Kurds from Iraq, Afghans, and Italians.
According to police, migrants paid about 6,000 euros ($7,270) for the trip. They were brought from Turkey and Greece by boat to Italy where they were issued with false documents. Migrants who wanted to remain in Italy were given false work contracts so they could apply for permission to stay. Others were smuggled into France.
The smuggling ring was an “essential link of connection with criminal groups active in Turkey and Greece,” said police.
Thousands of Kurds from Iraq and Iran have made the decision to emigrate to Europe in search of a better life, risking their lives on the deadly journey.
With rising unemployment and crushing US sanctions, many from the Kurdish provinces of Iran have made the trip. The coronavirus pandemic has not deterred those determined to forge a new life in Europe.
From Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, more than half a million people have migrated abroad in the past five years, according to the Summit Foundation for Refugee and Displaced Affairs. The town of Ranya alone has seen as many as 800 people move away in a single month.
Kurdistan Region parliamentary sessions to discuss the problem of youth migration ended in protests by lawmakers demanding the legislature focus on the economic situation and budget talks with Baghdad. The head of the Kurdistan Islamic Group, Abdulsattar Majid, said the financial crisis is the root of the problem. “Why do the youth emigrate? Isn’t it because they don’t receive their salaries,” he said.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has struggled to pay its civil servants on time and in full for years, because of the war with the Islamic State, falling oil prices, and budget disputes with the federal government.