Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/563633
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST 2015 News 9 JURGEN BALZAN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Despite the ease in obtaining information on how to get into Europe on Face- book and other social media sites, the EU has been unable to break up the sophisticated networks of hu- man traffickers. The lack of success in tracing and taking action against the master- minds of the trafficking networks could be down to the lack of co- operation by authorities in Libya, Turkey and other countries but the EU's intransigence over the open- ing of legal channels to reach Eu- rope is equally responsible for the daily tragedies happening on the shores of the Mediterranean and continental countries. In May, the European Union agreed to create a naval operation, dubbed EUNAV- FOR Med, to identify, capture, and destroy boats used by smugglers in the Mediterranean. However, not only have these plans been put on hold as the EU waits for international clearance but record numbers of refugees have attempted to reach Europe this year. At the same time, the Interna- tional Organisation for Migra- tion has this week said that deaths among refugees attempting to reach Europe by sea in 2015 now total 2,373. Another Facebook page accessed by MaltaToday informs refugees what they are to expect if they in- tend to travel to Italy by boat from Libya. "Due to the number of questions relating to travel to Italy, I will ex- plain what happens in depth start- ing from the beach until you reach Italy," the page administrator called Abu Lina writes. "The boat leaves the shore to- wards Italy, the boat has a Thuraya satellite phone that calls the Ital- ian coast guard to give them the boat coordinates, after that planes owned by the European Union hover over the boat, takes pictures and gives the details to the near- est ship or vessel to head towards the boat. Until the ship arrives it's imperative that all passengers keep calm and avoid rushing." Writing in Arabic, Abu Lina also explains that boarding priority will be given to families and urges people to "please keep calm so the ship can take you on board easily and transfer you to the Italian is- land of Lampedusa, where all tests will be done, then you are taken to the city of Milano for accommoda- tion, where they will give you all the assistance you need, i.e water, food, sleep, after that you leave to the place you want from Milano by train, or car…wishing all safe im- migration." On 24 June, Abu Lina also posted a map accompanied by a caption saying "the big red dot in the mid- dle of the sea is the European Red Cross ship, which provides assist- ance to refugees and transports them to Italy directly, after being given permits to leave Italian soil legally." Most Facebook pages include a price list for different destinations, accompanied by messages such as "whoever is fed up should leave, people are tired from their situa- tion, Europe welcomes you." The deceit and incorrect infor- mation however does not stop there, with refugees posting pho- tos of imposters, to show that they were duped. In a post accompanied by pho- tos on a Facebook page called Hu- man Sea Migration, Ahmed Mared wrote, "please be aware of the con Mohammed Al Abw, nicknamed Abu Jasim. We were a group who wanted to travel two months ago with him, he took $5,000 from each person for a trip from Mersin (Turkey) to Italy but the low life conned us. We never saw his face again. Currently he is in Anatolia working in smuggling to Greece. Be careful from working with him." Prices for trips vary from one page to the other. For instance Abu Lina's page provides travel prices from Libya to Italy during the month of August, including "Sudan - Libya - Italy: $2,000, Tu- nisia - Libya - Italy: $1,500, Turkey to Libya (by plane including visa, air ticket and accommodation in Libya) to Italy $3,800." Among the various messages and posts advertising the trips, the vast majority are aimed at Syrian refu- gees who are being granted entry to Europe, given the deadly civil war which has decimated the Mid- dle eastern nation. One Facebook page advertises a Syrian "agent" in Damascus who, the post claims, can provide "Euro- pean passports, European identity cards and European residency" af- ter smuggling refugees by land into Greece. This week Germany announced that it will allow Syrian refugees to stay and apply for asylum instead of deporting them back to their country of arrival. Berlin decided to suspend the Dublin Regulation, which stipu- lates that refugees can stay only in the first European country of ar- rival until their asylum claims are processed. This rule places an unequal bur- den on Southern European coun- tries like Greece, Italy and Malta which are among the easiest to reach by boat from across the Mediterranean. Both Italy and Greece have faced unprecedented levels of migrant inflow this year and under the new policy, even if the refugees first ar- rive in Greece or Italy but travel northwards to Germany, they will not be deported back to their first country of contact. How to enter Europe On a thread discussing ways on how people can enter countries such as Italy, Finland, Germany and Hungary, a number of Tuni- sian and Libyan nationals shared ideas on how they can dupe Euro- pean authorities by burning their fingertips if these have already been registered in previous at- tempts to enter Italy. Other Facebook pages give lengthy and detailed guidance on how to apply for asylum. The soundest piece of advice in the long list of such posts says "if you have been fingerprinted in any country don't lie, the European Union will know. Being honest will facilitate matters." Conman denounced by refugees Mohammed Al Abw was named and shamed as a conman who duped refugees Smugglers provide a map showing the coordinates of the European Red Cross rescue vessel