The smugglers are running a complex multi-million dollar network fleecing Somalis in distress looking for a way out of their country torn by war and desperate Ethiopians caught in vicious cycles of hunger, floods and political repression.
Thousands of people leave their country each year, thousands of miles of trekking across eight countries in the Horn of Africa, through East Africa to South Africa.
Oil bribes from their travels across the region by air, land and sea.
And the immigration and police are complicit. The state of the airport and the corruption that happens, it reflects the politics of the countries concerned. And this has implications for the security of the countries concerned.
" The next five to 10 years, Somalia, there will be "
Ismail, Somali truck driver in Malawi
In a recent report on smuggling in the region, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) noted that "the guardians of the integrity of national borders ... are deeply compromised, creating a threat to national security. "
It is said of their complicity in maintaining the flow of cases of smuggling, and that they "should be considered part of the business illegal and abusive", where "greed seems to be the only visible before and motivation ".
Large sums
Tal Raviv IOM, based in Nairobi, acknowledged that illegal immigration is "complex".
", Tens of thousands of people are able to move from Somalia and Ethiopia, all the way to South Africa, and they come with success," she says.
"All the borders are porous, it's just that stresses Mokotedi Mpshe, who heads South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority.
M. Mpshe knows the extent of corruption that has permeated society.
"Some government officials may let you down. We are trying to fight in May against the traffic, but at the same time, in May we be elements working against us," he said.
Silver, governments can not match the smugglers paid huge sums for immigration and police officers to facilitate the flow of illegal immigrants en route to South Africa.
Business Development
I found that immigrants pay smugglers an average of $ 1500 - $ 2000 before the journey begins.
The IOM also believes smuggling business generates annual revenues of approximately $ 40 million. Along the way immigrants lose a lot more flights.
And the rape and other abuses are common.
Over the years, the flow of Somalis has been growing, and therefore, according to the IOM, "the smugglers from the expansion of the supply and lucrative business opportunity."
"next five to 10 years, Somalia has anyone there," said Ismail, a Somali truck driver living in Malawi.
"There is no peace that is to come, there is no one who fights for Somalia."
Lions and snakes
Salma left Somalia with his son Nasir, 3 six years ago, when she was 23. She left her mother and brother behind, and has no idea where they are.
" Sometimes [smugglers] ask women to sleep with them. You sleep with them, otherwise they leave you behind "
Salma, Somali migrants
From her apartment in Cape Town, South Africa, she says, that everyone in Somalia is to try to flee the fighting.
She said she was walking on foot for 24 days during the trip.
In Kenya, Salma met Amina, a smuggler linked in a network that is through several countries.
Nairobi Eastleigh district is, according to the IOM, the traffic hub of the region.
It is just the heart of Mogadishu to Nairobi, whose life runs 24 hours, close community welcomes Somali who stands alone.
The transfer of money is easy, and everything is fine. Vehicles with tinted windows are a show, and transport trucks move goods and every hour.
Here Salma gave $ 1,000 to a smuggler, Amina, who accompanied her and a small part of migrants from the first half of their trip.
Corrupt police
In Tanzania, six party members were arrested.
Salma said the smuggler bribed police officers to obtain their freedom.
She said they have had similar experiences in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
"[Smuggler] paid money and we left."
Six years later, Salma's journey is still alive for her, as she tells how she was terrified of lions and snakes as she trudged through the bush.
"Sometimes, [smugglers], they ask women to sleep with them," remembers Daniel.
"You sleep with them, otherwise they leave you ... they do that."
Tal Raviv IOM confirmed that almost all women raped in smuggling, and his organization had also received reports about the same thing happens to men.
Salma
of the trip was even tougher than usual because she was traveling with a child, so that the smugglers who told him they could not give her shelter.
"I was too bad," she recalls.
Nasir, now nine years, vividly remembers sleeping in the forest, his mother walk long distances, sometimes under way for days without food.
"I have never ever, I do not want to do it again this way."
To hear Brian Hungwe of the investigation, to listen African Perspective on the BBC World Service. The program was first broadcast on Saturday, August 1 at 1106 GMT. It will be available online from 2106 GMT for a week.
This article from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: BBC News
No comments:
Post a Comment