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| Sunday, 16 May 2004 |
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The Italian dream still going strong Crime Sunday by Jayampathy Jayasinghe Despite several Sri Lankans being caught by the Italian Immigration officials trying to enter Italy illegally and deported to Sri Lanka, many still attempt to take a chance by going there despite being arrested by the local police on their return. How did 16 Sri Lankans including two women who flew to Italy with forged job visa documents end up in Italian police custody? How did they manage to get past the local Immigration and Emigration officials with fraudulent documents? Are some Immigration and Emigration officials also involved in the racket? Of course, this time the suspects opted to fly to Italy instead of choosing the risky and haphazard way of travelling in unworthy sea-going vessels. The suspects were deported from Italy and on their arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) last week, taken into custody by CID officers. They had left Sri Lanka on May 9, had arrived at the Milan airport and were subsequently nabbed by Italian Emigration and Immigration officers when they discovered forged work permits in their possession. The Italian authorities handed the suspects back to the airline to be brought back to Sri Lanka. On arrival at the BIA, the suspects were handed over to Immigration and Emigration officials by the airline. Senior Superintendent of Police (CID) D.S.Y. Samaratunga said following the arrest of the 16 suspects, they arrested a woman facilitator and an accomplice allegedly involved in the racket. The two persons were found in a hotel at Negombo along with parents of the deportees. The woman's husband is a noted human smuggler who has masterminded human smuggling operations in Sri Lanka. The couple had operated from their residence at Raddolugama. The suspect is currently in remand prison over a human smuggling offence. Meanwhile, another person involved in forging passports and resident work permits have been identified by the CID sleuths and is to be arrested soon. The 16 suspects and the two facilitators were taken before the Negombo Magistrate and remanded till investigations are completed. However, two suspects have been released on bail due to lack of evidence. It is learnt that the suspects had paid the woman facilitator sums ranging from Rs. 200,000 to Rs. 300,000 while the balance Rs 450,000-600,000 were to be paid by their relatives or friends once they reached Italy. CID sleuths have found that five of the 16 passports have been forged and that several passports do not contain the embarkation seal to indicate the suspects had left Sri Lanka. Only four passports had the legitimate seal of the Emigration and Immigration Department to indicate their departure. "We have reason to believe the suspects had used several forged passports to travel to Italy. Those who travel to Italy illegally go either by boat or travel with forged passports and work permits," a CID official said. Meanwhile it is learnt that visa officials of the United Kingdom and United States of America, frequently visit the BIA to keep a tab on those who travel to their countries while some Western embassies do not show such enthusiasm. On an earlier occasion, it was proposed that joint Police Naval patrol exercises be organised in the Indian Ocean to prevent illicit trafficking of people and heroin smuggling. A few years ago over one thousand persons, both foreigners and locals, had attempted to flee to Italy from Sri Lanka. It has been estimated that around 50 illicit emigrants from Sri Lanka enter Italy every month and even Sri Lankans employed in the Middle East enter Italy illegally. However, the majority of illicit emigrants to Italy have been arrested by the Italian police and deported to Sri Lanka. |
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