A racket comprising travel agents and forgers in India are making a killing, sending hundreds of refugees to the West with fake documents.
CHENNAI: As the strife in Sri Lanka forces thousands of refugees across the Palk Straits, a well-connected racket comprising travel agents and forgers in India are making a killing, sending hundreds of refugees to the UK, Canada and Europe with fake documents.
Based in Chennai, about six big-time travel agents and 15 smaller players manage passports and visas for the refugees and promise a "trouble-free" journey till the destination airport. The passenger travels with a fake Indian passport (DNA is in possession of one such passport the agent arranged for Rs10,000 within five hours) with which the agent procures a visa. Before disembarking, the passenger destroys the travel documents and offers himself to the immigration at the airport as a Sri Lankan refugee.
According to amnesty norms adopted by these countries, a refugee is not usually deported. After a few months spent in refugee camps, the person is allowed to leave with his Tamil relatives — many of them "arranged" by the racket. Labouring away at menial jobs, the refugees earn up to Rs80,000 to Rs1lakh a month. The Chennai agent charges Rs7 lakh for the European countries, Rs10 lakh for UK and Rs15 lakh for Canada.
"This has been going on since the mid-1980s, when the charge was just Rs35,000. Now, the racket is flourishing. Troubled times in Sri Lanka make the business smoother," an insider told DNA. "The arrangement is so successful that even Indians impersonate Sri Lankan refugees to reach foreign shores," the source said. In a good business month, the agent sends up to 15 people and in a lean month at least four.
The agents find it easier to smuggle out women who are often tagged along with "carriers" as their wives. The carrier, who often helps out the refugee at the destination airport, pockets about Rs50,000 per assignment.
Besides Chennai, airports in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata are also exit points for these refugees.
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