3071-The political economy of new slavery

46 Migration and Security
differences likely to arise from geographical and social factors. All we
know is that only a minority of migrants are smuggled by means of
a complete package tour directly from country of origin to country
of final destination. This means that most migrants will make one or
more stops along the way. Cities like Istanbul, Warsaw, Moscow and
Bucharest are temporary homes to large numbers of migrants hoping
to make it into the EU. Migrants face numerous kinds of abuse. Often
they have used up all their money once they land in these transit places
and are thus forced to look for opportunities to replenish their budget.
As described above, this makes them vulnerable to many kinds of
exploitation. They may even be ripped off by unscrupulous racketeers.
One example of such a scam is from Istanbul, where migrants are led
to believe they are to board a ship for Greece. Payment is collected at
boarding and the ship sets sail at night. In the morning the migrants
disembark on a coast unknown to them and are told to walk to a village
several miles down the road where they will find a police post to file an
asylum request. Once near to the village, they recognize the minaret of
the local mosque and realize they are still in Turkey and not in Greece
(see, for example, Godfroid and Vinkx, 1999). Again, they will have to
find means by which to earn money for yet another attempt.
Sleeping rough, having no access to medical care or police protection
and, when whole families are on the move, no access to schooling –
all pose threats to the well-being or even the survival of migrants in
transit. 13 Another example of the severe risks illegal migrants face when
in the hands of smugglers can be found in the numerous accounts of
capsized ships and small vessels on the way from Albania to Italy (for
a first-hand description see Harding, 2000), from Morocco to Spain, and
from the Caribbean to the USA. When ships do not sink but instead are
intercepted, smugglers are known to force their clients overboard, thus
leaving law enforcement agents no choice but to fish them out of the
water instead of pursuing the smugglers themselves. In other instances,
people are put overboard and told to swim ashore.
Yet another example of serious risk can arise when migrants cross
borders over land, be it with the assistance of others or on their own.
The border between Mexico and the USA has, over the years, become
very strongly guarded, at least at those spots where illegals are known
to cross in great numbers. This has led them to avoid those parts of the
border and look for different places to cross. The suitable, unpatrolled
routes left are those that lead through uninhabited and dangerous
areas. In a number of instances this has led to the death – by freezing,
drowning or starving – of migrants. Less extreme, in most cases, but still