CHARM OFFENSIVE - Orient Aviation

m a i n s t o r yPEOPLE TRAFFICKERS COSTING AIRLINES MILLIONS OFDOLLARS A YEAR IN FINES AND COSTSThe airways and airports of the Asia-Pacific are among those most used by thepurveyors of human misery, the peoplesmugglers. It’s also a centre for passport andvisa forgery. The trade in ‘human cargo’ isescalating rapidly.The region’s major carriers are spendingvast amounts of money to train staff tocounter the sophisticated crime syndicatesat the heart of the operations. They are notalone, it’s a worldwide phenomenon and,says IATA, they should be treated as victims,not the problem. The problem should beshared.TOM BALLANTYNE reports.The cost to international airlines ofunknowingly carrying thousands ofillegal immigrants travelling on falsepassports is estimated at more than US$1billion in the last decade, with $250 millionpaid in government fines by the carriers.What’s more, people trafficking is escalatingat such an alarming pace, accordingto IATA’s assistant director facilitation services,Bob Davidson, that some carriers couldsuspend services through problem airportsbecause fines and costs imposed on them aretoo prohibitive.In October, as the airline industry attemptsto keep ahead of the increasingly sophisticatedcrime syndicates which use commercialflights to move their human “cargo” aroundthe world, IATA will hold the first seminaron the problem in Atlanta, Georgia, whereairlines, government officials and law enforcementagencies, including Interpol, willthrash out ways to keep one step ahead ofthe people smugglers.Davidson accused many governmentsof “giving up”, and deciding the only courseof action was to gather funds to pay forthe cost of handling refugees by dumpingresponsibility on airlines. Airlines should betreated as victims, not the problem, he said.He questioned the wisdom of imposing fineson airlines that already spend large amountsof money on training staff to counter peopletrafficking.Estimates given to Orient Aviation byvarious sources indicate the number of illegalson the move at any given time in the worldrange from 1.5 million to four million.The United Nations (UN) believes humantrafficking is a $7 billion a year business. TheSHARETHEBURDEN!IATA accuses governments of ‘giving up’and dumping responsibility on airlinesCrime syndicates keep a close watch on airline operations at airportsInternational Organisation of Migration (IOM)thinks global human smuggling is channellingclose to $10 billion annually into smugglers’deep pockets.Crime syndicates charge each migrant upto US$35,000 or more to be smuggled into anew country, depending on the country oforigin and destination.As a result, carriers are spending millionsof dollars annually either on training staff toidentify forged documents presented by airtravellers or hiring outside experts to do thejob for the airlines.Asian carriers are particularly vulnerablebecause the region’s major hubs are convenientlyplaced on some of the prime routesfavoured by the crime gangs as they moveillegals from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, theMiddle East, the former Russian FederationStates, the Balkans and China to Europe, NorthAmerica and Australasia.Law enforcement sources say Hong18 | Orient Aviation | September 2001