Current_Trends_and_Related_Challenges_web

Current Trends and Challenges
family at home, and they intend to return to
Afghanistan. 49 Reports from Greece, Indonesia,
Scandinavian countries, and the United Kingdom
show that unaccompanied Afghan minors, most
of them teenaged boys, are typically found among
the smuggled migrants. 50 Afghan migrants from
lower socio-economic backgrounds are generally
smuggled into neighbouring countries, such as the
Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan. Those who
are smuggled to destinations in Europe, especially
those smuggled by air, tend to be from wealthy
families (at least with the means to pay the
higher smuggling fees). 51 Most Afghan migrants
smuggled to Australia are ethnic Hazaras. Some of
these migrants lived in the Islamic Republic of Iran
or in Pakistan, especially in Quetta or other parts
of Balochistan Province, for some time before
they were smuggled to Australia. 52
Irregular Iranian migrants in Europe, Oceania
and North America are predominantly male.
According to Australian authorities’ estimates,
most smuggled Iranian migrants arriving in
the country are single men younger than 30. 53
According to Norwegian authorities, many Iranian
migrants arriving in the country irregularly are of
Kurdish background, 54 whereas about half of all
irregular Iranian migrants in Australia come from
Persian families living in or near Tehran. 55
The profile of Iraqi migrants — most of them
men between the ages of 15 and 40 — is similar
to that of other South-West Asian migrants.
According to German authorities, as many as
40 per cent of irregular Iraqi migrants detected
in the country are female, whereas as few as 3
per cent of Iraqis arriving in the United Kingdom
irregularly are female. 56 There also appears to be a
relatively large number of unaccompanied minors
among irregular Iraqi migrants in Europe, most
of them male teenagers. 57 According to German
authorities, approximately 50 per cent of irregular
Iraqi migrants arriving in the country are of Kurdish
background. 58 Approximately 80 per cent of Iraqi
migrants smuggled to Australia are ethnic Arabs,
mostly from the provinces of Baghdad, Basra and
Najaf. 59
Most Pakistani nationals who migrate through
irregular channels to a Gulf State or Western
Europe are young men, aged between 18 and 30
years. 60 The smuggling of Pakistani women and
children also occurs, albeit in smaller numbers. 61
Those Pakistanis who migrate across the border to
Afghanistan are predominantly Pashtuns who live
in the areas close to the border. 62 The available
sources suggest that many Pakistanis smuggled to
Europe are from Punjab Province and come from
wealthier families. 63 Pakistani migrants smuggled
to Europe are described as relatively well educated
and with a good grasp of the English language. 64
2.4 Smuggling methods and routes
The destinations, routes and methods used to
smuggle migrants from South-West Asia have
significant similarities, and migrants of different
backgrounds and nationalities from the region are
often smuggled together. 65 Smuggling activities
from South-West Asia are commonly organized
in separate stages rather than taking place along
a predetermined route. Most smuggled migrants
from South-West Asia use multiple means of
transportation and multiple smuggling methods,
both regular and irregular, during their journey. 66
The relative wealth of migrants and their families
is one of the factors determining the modes
of transportation. In general, safer and faster
methods, such as smuggling by air, are only
affordable to wealthier migrants, whereas others
can only afford slower, more dangerous and more
cumbersome methods that lead overland and
may involve transport by sea. Those who cannot
afford to be smuggled to Western Europe often
opt to be smuggled to the Gulf region. 67
2.4.1 Fraudulent travel and identity documents
Fraudulent travel and identity documents are
commonly used in the smuggling of migrants from
South-West Asia. 68 Some migrants use genuine
documents for some legs of their smuggling
journey and fraudulent documents for others. 69
The use of fraudulent documents is particularly
prevalent if migrants are smuggled by air. The
methods of document fraud are numerous and
include fake documents, genuine documents that
have been altered or stolen, misrepresentations
to government and immigration officials to obtain
documents fraudulently and bogus documents
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