Reuters
Selam Gebrekidan, Reuters: Behind the refugee crisis, families in the West willing to pay and pay
One man’s effort to shepherd his brother into Europe sheds light on the multi-billion-euro smuggling networks that are fuelling Europe’s migrant crisis
ROME – One Tuesday night in June 2015, Tesfom Mehari Mengustu, an Eritrean delivery man in Albany, New York, got a call from a number he did not recognise. On the line was Girmay, his 16-year-old brother.
Girmay was calling from Libya. He had just spent four days crossing the Sahara. God willing, he said, the men who had smuggled him through the desert would get him to the capital city of Tripoli within days. After that, he would cross the Mediterranean for Italy.
“Europe is within reach,” Girmay told his brother. But he needed money to pay for the next leg of his journey.
Tesfom, 33, was less enthusiastic. Four years earlier, he had paid $17,000 in ransom to free another brother who had been kidnapped crossing Egypt’s Sinai desert. On another occasion, he had sent $6,000 to a smuggler holding his sister hostage in Sudan. War-torn Libya, Tesfom knew, was particularly dangerous. That April, Islamic State militants there had executed 30 Ethiopians and Eritreans and posted the videos online.
Of those lucky enough to survive the desert trek, many never make it to Europe.
Read more ....
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WNU Editor: In my many travels around the world I have lost count on the number of times I have met people whose dream has been to immigrate to the West .... without realizing the hardships involved in getting here, the cultural shock that awaits them, and the realization that even if they do get here, life is not easy or comfortable. But they try .... and as I have mentioned more than once in this blog in the past year .... this situation changed dramatically last year when German Chancellor Merkel openly stated that Germany had opened its borders, and was willing to accept everyone who can make it to their borders. To say that this opened the floodgates is an understatement .... and as the weather now improves and the migration season kicks in again .... here is an easy prediction .... what Europe experienced last year will be puny when compared to the massive wave of humanity that wants to make the trek this year.
On a personal note .... I live on the island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada ... and I have been here since the early 1990s. My suburb (Lasalle) became a dumping ground for refugees/migrants/etc. about 10 years ago.... and during this time I have seen how much this community has changed. Crime, social problems, people moving out, public schools deteriorating, the establishment of a ghetto mindset .... it is not pretty .... and what is disturbing is that the situation is not improving. And while Canadian politicians like to preach the virtues of multiculturalism and even more immigration ... in my reality .... I see the complete opposite. Bottom line .... I love my home and the view of the the Saint Lawrence River that I have from my window, but I am now making plans to move because where I live is no longer safe.
