These smugglers always think of different ways to part people from their money.
Smugglers offer Turkey-to-Italy boat crossings
Travellers sceptical over Facebook ad for alternative passage to EU avoiding Greece after scams and ‘ghost ship’ perils
Refugees protest in Athens this week over the EU deal which entails Turkey taking back migrants from Greece. Photograph: Pacific/REX Shutterstock
Patrick Kingsley in Istanbul and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome
Thursday 31 March 2016 11.36 EDTLast modified on Thursday 31 March 201617.00 EDT
Turkey-based smugglers have begun to re-advertise trips between Turkey and Italy, in the first hint of a shift in migration patterns since the EU agreed a deal to deport any refugees landing in Greece.
In an advert on Facebook, smugglers claimed that the first boat to Italy would leave this weekend from the port of Mersin. They offered places for $4,000 (£2,780) per person, four times the cost of a journey from Turkey to Greece.
“The trip is on Saturday, from Mersin to Italy, on a merchant ship 110 metres long, equipped with food, water, life jackets and medicine,” the post read, accompanied by photographs of a cargo ship.
People smugglers using Facebook to lure migrants into 'Italy trips'
Reacting to the ad, some refugees raised the possibility of the scheme being a scam, since scores of would-be migrants were tricked in 2014 and 2015 by people posing as organisers of similar trips.
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Smugglers offer Turkey-to-Italy boat crossings
Smugglers offer Turkey-to-Italy boat crossings
Travellers sceptical over Facebook ad for alternative passage to EU avoiding Greece after scams and ‘ghost ship’ perils
Refugees protest in Athens this week over the EU deal which entails Turkey taking back migrants from Greece. Photograph: Pacific/REX Shutterstock
Patrick Kingsley in Istanbul and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome
Thursday 31 March 2016 11.36 EDTLast modified on Thursday 31 March 201617.00 EDT
Turkey-based smugglers have begun to re-advertise trips between Turkey and Italy, in the first hint of a shift in migration patterns since the EU agreed a deal to deport any refugees landing in Greece.
In an advert on Facebook, smugglers claimed that the first boat to Italy would leave this weekend from the port of Mersin. They offered places for $4,000 (£2,780) per person, four times the cost of a journey from Turkey to Greece.
“The trip is on Saturday, from Mersin to Italy, on a merchant ship 110 metres long, equipped with food, water, life jackets and medicine,” the post read, accompanied by photographs of a cargo ship.
People smugglers using Facebook to lure migrants into 'Italy trips'
Reacting to the ad, some refugees raised the possibility of the scheme being a scam, since scores of would-be migrants were tricked in 2014 and 2015 by people posing as organisers of similar trips.
Continue reading at:
Smugglers offer Turkey-to-Italy boat crossings
