Tracking the diaspora: Syrian crisis drives agents off Turkey to risky Russia route

CHANDIGARH: Geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East has forced unscrupulous agents, who were earlier using the Turkey route to send hundreds of Punjabi youths to Europe, to change tack.

“Entering Europe through Turkey has been one of the best routes in the past. But influx of illegal immigrants from Iraq and Syria has changed the situation,” said Darshan Singh Gill, a Dubai-based travel agent, who has associates in Jalandhar, Delhi, Ankara and Moscow.

“Bulgarian border police are not allowing any more immigrants from Turkey. Earlier, illegal immigrants could apply for asylum if they were caught, but now they face deportation after spending months in inhuman conditions in Bulgarian detention centres,” said Darshan.

The agents used to bring Punjabi youths to Dubai from Amritsar on tourist visas. After spending a few days in Dubai, they would travel on tourist visas to Ankara – Turkey’s capital. From there they would enter Hungary through forests and hills while passing through Bulgaria and Romania. Strictness on the Middle Eastern route has forced the agents to opt for treacherous mountains and jungles of Russia and Central Asia to enter Europe.



According to the United Nations and non-government organisations, who are involved in the rescue of stranded youths, illegal immigration from Punjab is a multi-million rupees business.However, Punjab-based agents are only small fish, getting only 5-10% of the total fees per case.

“Russia is a new illegal route to Europe...In one case, we managed to catch the agent, but the victim family got back only Rs 25,000 from him. They had paid around Rs 18 lakh to send their son to Europe, but the remaining money had gone to other agents based in Delhi and Russia,” said Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia, president of NGO Helping Hapless.

“We got the shop of one such agent closed in Mohali district, but the very next month he opened another office at a different location,” stated Amanjot.

According to a report by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), illegal migration to the UK was recorded from almost every village in Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur districts of Punjab. It added that business of illegal immigration has risen sharply, especially in the Doaba belt and parts of the Malwa area (southern Punjab).

“My father sold seven acres of agriculture land to pay Rs 15 lakh to the agent. Rs 40,000 was paid on getting a visa for Kazakhstan, 50% of the remaining on reaching Moscow, and the rest before boarding a ferry to the UK from Belgium or France,” said Jagdish Lal, 28, a resident of Nawanshahr, who is stuck in Munich town of Germany.

Satjit Singh Sandhu from Nawanshahr who is with Jagdish, said, “On reaching Moscow, the agent forced me to call my elder brother back home and tell him to pay the whole amount to a Jalandhar-based agent Tarsem Singh. Now I am stuck in Munich for the last over three months, with no legal papers and police can arrest me anytime,”

“Jalandhar-based agent had stopped answering my brother’s calls long time back and now his phone is switched off. I don’t know where our hard-earned money has gone,” added Satjit.