by Fayz Ghaznawi
Beside the many problems like insecurity, corruption and Drugs, the people smuggling also has caused huge of problems for Afghanistan people during the recent years. The people smuggling now has changed to a complicated issue in all over Afghanistan, so the network of people smugglers are too active even in Kabul city. The people smugglers working like a Mafia in Kabul and other provinces and smuggling the people to other country is their business.
They earn hundred thousand dollars from this way and working hard to earn more and more. The people smugglers now have created a network which is working systematically around the Afghanistan. They are campaigning normally between the people and smuggling them from Afghanistan to other countries. This is about two decades that people smugglers are do this deadly business in Afghanistan but unfortunately nobody has acted against them so far. The people smugglers have caused many problems for Afghanistan people. We know during the recent years hundreds people have lost their lives on the way to Australia or Europe.
Regarding to the reports only 1500 asylum seekers have lost their lives for going to Australia since 2000 that the majority of them have been Afghanistan asylum seekers.
The people smugglers are directly responsible for all who lost their lives at the see during the recent years. It seems likely that Afghan government has not paid enough attention to this problem so for. However, I remember that last year the Afghan senators officially asked Afghan government to avoid smuggling the citizens. They warned that the people smugglers have created a network in Afghanistan and it should be stopped. The senators say that the people smugglers are campaigning in Kabul, and if the government does not stop them, they will continue their deadly business.
The protocol against the smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air, which supplements the UN convention against transnational organised crime, came into force in January 2004, and 141 countries are party to it. It defines smuggling of migrants as “the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a state party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident”.
After Syria – the highest number of migrants in Europe come from Afghanistan. It shows that how much the people smugglers are active in Afghanistan.
Now the people smugglers have started rumours in Kabul that Australia will accept 5000 asylum seekers from Afghanistan in 2017. They say that providing fake documents and plane tickets to refugees in exchange for up to ($10,800) per person. They often lie to their clients and make false promises.
However, these are three years that Australia has closed the door to the illegal migration but the rumours by people smugglers shows which they have a new plan to start its deadly business again.
It is because the Afghanistan people do not have enough information about the refugee situation in Europe countries and the people can believe the lie of people smugglers so they have started new rumours but this time for Australia.
The people smugglers are too dangerous and cruel people. They don’t thing about the safety of their client, they think only about money.
The solution is only to raise people awareness about the risks and alternatives of illegal migration. If the people know that how much dangerous is such kind of journey, they do not want to put their lives on risk. In the first step the government is responsible to work for raising public awareness about the risks of illegal migration. The government also should support all NGOs they working in this regard because the NGOs are not able to stand against people smugglers lonely. Even some reports shows that the people smugglers have warned the NGOs they working to raise awareness of people about illegal migration, to stop campaign against them.
Mohammad Hussain Bahman a journalist who was working to raise people awareness about the risks and alternatives of illegal migration to Australia through local and national media outlets has been threatened many times to stop campaign against people smugglers. Eventually he was forced to leave Afghanistan because he threatened that if continue campaign against people smugglers, would be killed. It shows that people smugglers are working s very organised and systematically so campaign against them requires organised and long term programs.