24-06-2012
Just one week has left until the end of the Football Championship. The number of foreign tourists visiting the football festive in our country is amounted to hundreds of thousands. However, there is the category of people, who will never get to similar statistics because they cross Ukrainian border illegally.
World Refugee Day has been celebrated this week. UNO has counted 42 million displaced people in the world. Illegal migration turned into transnational business, one of the channels goes through Ukrainian territory. Though, uninvited guests from the countries of the third world consider Ukraine just like a convenient starting ground before the quick march to Europe and the very Europeans regards us as buffer zone protecting them from illegal migrants. The routes of the illegal migrants and the cost of entrance to Europe from the black passage were found out by Andriy Tsaplienko.
Yalda was born in Afghanistan and she could die in Ukrainian mountains. Two years ago, her parents tried to cross the border to Slovakia illegally. The girl was crying. Her mother closed her mouth with the hand not being heard by the border guards. The girl nearly gasped. The trespassers were found in time. The family of Amir Jamini had to stay beyond the threshold of European Union.
Amir Jamini is illegal migrant: We came to Ukraine from Russia. Then we want to get to Europe.
Amir dreams about Europe that starts here. There is Slovakian village Ubla on that side.
In order to make his dream come true – to get to European Union – illegal migrant has just to cross this line and ask asylum. Slovakian border guards are obliged to hand over the illegal migrant, now already a refugee, to human rights organizations. Well, then he disappears among the million of such seekers of better life.
Travellers from the poorest countries have to go beyond and overcome mountainous routes to get to European paradise. The passage to other side costs from $3-4 thousand per person. For a family it is rather a considerable sum.
Amir:
– Eight thousand dollars.
– Did you pay money in Afghanistan?
– Yes, we did. We paid money in Afghanistan.
The system of illegal traffic works according to the principle “all inclusive”. The price includes meals, residence and transport costs as well during the entire trip.
Eduard Dudkevych, the chief of Inquiry Department of Chop Border Detachment:
Generally, even the payment to those representatives carrying out their activity, is given when the foreigner will get to one of the countries of European Union.
The system acting without warrants and receipts is called by the very illegal migrants by short word “Mafia”.
Amir Jamini, illegal migrant: We were taken to Kyiv. There, a man from Mafia named Delovar met us. That person, who had to take us to Uzhgorod, was Yura. Mafia in Kyiv gave us his phone number.
Yura took Afghans to the place where Ukraine finishes. There were some meters left to the border. Namely, this route is chosen by the smugglers.
Stanislav Dmytruk, senior inspector of Border Service:
Here are watchtowers, below there is a cloister, these towers are like orientation point. They come to this road, go straight away and get to the border.
There are places here in the mountains, where you can get only by quad bikes and there are also ones considered to be impassible. As rule, namely these routes are chosen by the smugglers making the routes for the illegal migrants. The statistics of successful crossing in correspondence to unsuccessful ones is about 1:4.
The smuggler gets the payment only in case of successful crossing by the group. Money are received from that side, it is affirmed by the border guards.
Victor Potetenych, the chief of the staff of Chop Border Detachment: They receive money not from Ukraine. There are corresponding channels of money sending to criminal groupings. The sums are rather big.
There is no a secret in border detachment that there were some cases when colleagues tried to earn money on illegal migrants. The latest case was when border guard gave the smugglers the accurate maps of the border.
Victor Potetenyn, the chief of the staff of Chop Border Detachment: When such cases are made apparent – these servicemen are discharged.
For the smuggler his clients are goods. The more group he has the more risk it is. But the income is bigger. While we were shooting in the mountains, a group of Somali migrants was apprehended at the neighbouring area. This young woman fled from the town of Afgoi five months ago. She said that leader of local Islams married her by force. Already being on the run, she realized that she was pregnant.
Ladan Varsame Gedy, illegal migrant: My husband Sharaf Mussa is the leader of fighters. He beat me. I was in the hospital and escaped from him.
Escape to Europe from Somalia costs approximately the same as from Afghanistan – $4ooo per person. There is the whole channel that starts from Mogadisho and goes through Moscow, Kyiv and Vinnytsya. Just in Vinnytsya Hanna Osman spent the year before the decisive quick march to Slovakia. Attempt was failed. Hanna hardly will be ready to do the second one in the nearest future.
Hanna Osman, illegal migrant: Mafia met me in Russia in the airport. Then they took me to some place. We were not allowed to leave that place neither during the day nor at night. Then a man came, took our group and brought us to Ukraine, Vinnytsya. I crossed the border being pregnant. Now I will not do this. I have a little baby.
In Mukachevo, children of illegal migrants granted refugees status in Ukraine go to school number sixteen. There four such children in the first form.
Kahla Mustafa, a daughter of Syrian refugees: I like Maths, Reading, Writing and Physical Training at school.
Falka is responsible person for taking children to school. The girl is in the 9th form. She can just suspect the reason her family left Syria.
Falka Muhamed, a schoolgirl: We asked mother why we arrived to Ukraine, why we did not stay in Syria and she said that we have enemies there and we’d better not to know what happened there.
Ukraine is the most difficult part of transit, it is a sanitary zone of Europe. Law on Readmission adopted on demand of European Union obliges Kyiv to create camps for illegal migrants and organize their return to the country of origin. But Amir Jamini does not want to go back home and he still hopes that one day Ukrainian Mafioso “Yura” will do open the window to Europe.
Andrey Tsaplienko:
– Will you pay here to get to other side or have you already paid for it in Afghanistan?
Amir Jamimi, illegal migrant:
– No, we paid the whole sum in Afghanistan. Mafia will give us to people taking us over the border.
– That is you think you will be given these people here?
– Yes, I do.
– How will they find you?
But this question Amir refused to understand. And other illegal migrants do as well.
Andrey Tsaplienko, Maksim Cheblin, Uzhgorod, Mukachevo – “Details of the week”, TV channel “Inter”.