Russian sailors in Greece and Italy are getting detained increasingly more often over their alleged involvement in smuggling irregular migrants from Turkey, the Balkans and North Africa, with 47 people currently in custody, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th December, 2019) Russian sailors in Greece and Italy are getting detained increasingly more often over their alleged involvement in smuggling irregular migrants from Turkey, the Balkans and North Africa, with 47 people currently in custody, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday."Recently, more and more Russian contractor sailors on foreign boats have been getting detained on maritime borders of Greece and Italy. In particular, they are alleged of transporting irregular migrants. As a rule, it is about smuggling services provided in the territory of Turkey, the Balkan countries and in North Africa. At the moment, 24 people are in custody in Greece and 23 others in Italy," Zakharova said at a press briefing.
Some of these people have already been convicted, while others are awaiting their verdicts, she continued.
"The Russian nationals themselves claim that they were tricked into these activities, specifically through social media and personal contacts. Who first appeared as employers turned out to be recruiters offering high-paid legal jobs on cruise boats, and it is only when people arrive at the spot that they discover the job to actually be different," Zakharova said.
Greatly due to their frontline location in the Mediterranean, Greece and Italy have been among the European countries that has faced the greatest numbers of migrant arrivals by sea over the past years. The European Union has undertaken a number of measures to curb the influx, including signing a 6 billion euro ($6.6 million) deal with Turkey for the latter to turn back migrants before they reach Europe. However, migration has continued and especially affected the Greek islands, where reception facilities are now well beyond capacity.
