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Read, Debate: Engage.
| topic: | Human Trafficking |
|---|---|
| located: | Croatia, Spain, Egypt, Argentina, Paraguay, Morocco, Serbia |
| editor: | Katarina Panić |
Seven people entered a transport container in Belgrade. They believed they were about to travel to neighbouring Croatia. Just over a hundred kilometres and they are going to reach the European Union. They intended to avoid border control, as they were so-called undocumented migrants. It was on July 21. Their supply of canned food, biscuits and water was enough for three days. It was October 23 when their body remains were found in Paraguay.
The container had travelled through Croatia, Egypt, Spain and Argentina. A fertiliser shipment was placed outside an office building in Asuncion. The agricultural company's owner decided to open the box once the odour began to spread. The workers discovered the human remains – hair and bones. The content accelerated the decomposition of the bodies. It is believed the people died soon after they left Serbia. The victims were most probably all male adults. Asphyxiation was the likely cause of death. Reportedly, there was cannibalism among them once they ran out of food.
According to some IDs found inside, three men were from Morocco, and one was from Egypt. A telephone card and a Serbian taxi receipt were discovered in the container too and could help to identify the other victims.
Six days later, Serbian police arrested two foreign nationals, from Morocco and Algeria, on suspicion of organising illegal border crossing for migrants. The officials said the detainees would face charges of people smuggling, but no charges were laid over the migrants' deaths.
With the increase in the number of migrants across the so-called Balkan route, the EU had tightened its border controls, leading to the rise of human trafficking. Every now and then a criminal group is discovered that illegally transports migrants from Serbia to EU countries. Many of them don't mind the risks. Migrants are often in danger. In July, a group was discovered transporting people across the Drina river by improvised boats during the night. In June, smugglers transported people in grain trucks. Migrants were hidden in a way that they could not breathe normally because they were covered with the grain. The only way they could catch the air and survive on the way from Serbia to Italy was to breathe through tubes.
Image by pladkani
