The Greek migrant boat tragedy spotlights dangerous immigration actors – National | 24CA News
What connects the shipwreck of a migrant boat off the coast of Greece to worldwide college students combating for a spot in Canada? The harmful dangers many are compelled to take to with a purpose to navigate round hard-to-decipher immigration programs, say some who work within the discipline.
And for some, which means counting on dangerous, unlicensed immigration consultants or “agents” tied to smuggling rings — a threat consultants warn must be taken severely.
Hundreds of persons are lacking after a smuggling boat carrying migrants to Europe sank off the coast of Western Greece on June 14. The migrants on the boat have been believed to be Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis and Palestinians.
In Pakistan, a rustic going through an financial disaster following a devastating flood final yr, authorities have arrested seven folks who allegedly performed key roles in a human trafficking ring that put folks on the boat. Nine arrests have been made in Greece as properly, the place a courtroom ordered their detention within the southern metropolis of Kalamata.
Each of those that tried to make the perilous journey to Europe — hoping for a greater life — paid the smugglers between $5,000 to $8,000, in accordance with the Associated Press.
The BBC and Al-Jazeera have reported a number of the folks on the boat additionally used “agents” or “travel agents” to offer them with documentation for the journey and to have the ability to work as soon as they arrived.
The position of insidious brokers and consultants has additionally come into sharp aid in Canada, the place tons of of worldwide college students say they’ve fallen sufferer to a faux admissions letter scheme.
The college students, going through deportation, had launched a protest final month. It was solely after immigration minister Sean Fraser promised to place the deportations on maintain that the scholars ended their protest.
According to the scholars, these going through deportation orders got here to Canada in 2017 and 2018 on pupil permits after they have been issued “fake college admission letters drafted by their immigration consultants, namely a Jalandhar-based consultant named Brijesh Mishra.”
Mishra, the marketing consultant accused of the forgeries, has not been seen in months.
Bikram Singh Kullewal is a member of the Naujawan Support Network, a Brampton, Ont.-based advocacy group. He stated the issue navigating immigration and asylum is pushing weak migrants into the palms of unregulated consultants and dangerous conditions.
“When you are sick, you go to the doctor. When you need your car fixed, you go to a mechanic. When you are desperate to leave an economic crisis, you go to anyone who tells you they will get you out,” he stated in Punjabi throughout a translated interview with Global News.
Kullewal stated uncomplicating the Canadian immigration system and providing simple pathways to everlasting residency for college kids and overseas staff might assist scale back their dependence on such brokers.
When Fraser introduced a job power into the alleged admissions rip-off, he stated that the variety of folks attempting to make the most of Canada’s immigration system was within the “thousands” and that Ottawa can be working to sort out this challenge.
But governments together with Canada’s have a accountability to do extra to make sure that potential migrants are made conscious of easy methods to spot somebody unlicensed or dangerous, says Manan Gupta, a registered Canadian immigration marketing consultant (RCIC) additionally primarily based in Brampton.
“There is a serious lack of awareness among many migrants, especially those from rural backgrounds, about how to navigate the immigration system in many Western countries, including Canada,” Gupta says.
“You can look up any regulated and licensed Canadian consultant on the website of the College of Immigration and Citizenship (CICC), but most people don’t know that.”
But that could be a tall order, Kullewal stated.
“Canada’s immigration system is very overwhelming even if you speak fluent English. For people who don’t speak the language, it can feel like an impossible task. No wonder people are attracted to bad actors who know the system well.”
At occasions, unlicensed operators can seem to value lower than licensed consultants as properly, Gupta added. But in the long term, the prices might be dire.
“Rural families in Punjab often mortgage lands and property to send their sons and daughters to Canada. This is a big draw for them. But it’s not worth it in the long term if you fall victim to a fraud scheme,” he stated.
“I want young people to remember that nothing is more important than their lives.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
