The head of the mission of the International Organization for Migration in Portugal said this Friday that the network of immigrant smuggling in Alentejo dismantled this week by the Judicial Police did not surprise that entity, which has been alert to this reality for two years.
PJ detains 35 people on suspicion of human trafficking in a network that exploited hundreds of immigrants in Alentejo
These criminal investigations that are being carried out in the Alentejo are not exactly news for the International Organization for Migration [OIM]???????? In fact, we have warned several times in the last two years of this reality, not only for Portugal, but also for many other countries”, Vasco Malta said in statements to Lusa.
For the head of the IOM, the way to prevent this type of network from progressing and that emigrants do not fall into their hands “is to ensure that people do not need to resort to intermediaries to carry out their migration process”, regardless of what your nationality.
This means that the migration process must be agile and transparent from the origin of the migrant to the arrival in the country of destinationdefended.
Concluding that all the networks have the same behavior in common: “Promising and attracting migrants with a well-paid job, in addition to charging a certain amount to be paid with the salary or part of the salary of the person who comes to the country to work” is say “the need” of people to have “better living conditions” is explored.
In order for the immigration process to be faster and safer, Vasco Malta believes that there must be more expeditious ways for the migrant to apply for visas while they are still in the country of origin.
The hypothesis of creating collective visa application processes should also be studied, for example when a certain company wants to hire several people in the same country, and alliances should be established between private and public institutions, to ensure that there is “a open communication channel”, in addition to the articulation and involvement of the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP) with similar institutions in other countries.
For the head of the OIM, it is still important that there be “a dissemination of information” before the departure of the migrant and upon arrival in the country of destination. Reliable information that explains the realities that emigrants will find where they go to work and live.
For this reason, the IOM “has been working, through a project on labor migration, so that there are regular migration mechanisms that respond, on the one hand, to the needs of the labor market, but that, on the other hand, also safeguard the rights of migrant workers,” he added.
If there are no agile, transparent and efficient mechanisms, migration, which is an unstoppable phenomenon, will take place through irregular channels, leaving migrants in situations of extreme vulnerability and violation of their rights,” he stressed.
On Wednesday, the Judicial Police (PJ) arrested 35 people belonging to a criminal network that hired foreign workers for agriculture in Baixo Alentejo, a police source confirmed to Lusa.
The network was made up of foreigners, specifically Romanian families, and some Portuguese who gave them support.
“The several dozen victims of Romanian, Moldovan, Moroccan, Pakistani and Senegalese nationality were hired for agricultural exploration in Beja, Cuba and Ferreira do Alentejo, among other places,” he said.
This PJ investigation began about a year ago and focused on that criminal network’s recruitment of foreign workers with the promise of employment and housing.
Source: Observadora
