Romania uncovers migrant smuggling network using Schengen access – Euractiv

Romanian authorities carried out searches in several counties on Tuesday after identifying a new method of migrant smuggling that involves migrants entering Schengen countries via Romania, although migrant smuggling is the main reason Austria has blocked Romania's access to the Schengen area last year.

On Tuesday, prosecutors from the Directorate of Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) executed a series of 67 search warrants in the counties of Caras-Severin, Timiș, Arad, Bihor, Argeș, Sibiu and Bucharest-City in a criminal case regarding the formation of an organized criminal group, human trafficking, fraudulent crossing of the Romanian state border, facilitating illegal stay in Romania and money laundering.

DIICOT’s operations were coordinated with prosecutors from the Romanian Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA).

In 2022, a new operational method focused on the smuggling of migrants entering Romania on work visas but intending to transit to Schengen countries emerged, according to DIICOT. The scheme involved a former Interior Ministry employee who launched an organized crime group through seven trading companies.

Other trading companies, including one controlled by a retired colonel, collaborated to recruit foreign workers for personal use.

Between 2022 and June 2024, the criminal group, composed of more than 37 suspects, Romanian citizens and foreigners, and operating through 31 commercial companies in Caraș-Severin, Timiș and Arad, trafficked migrants in Romania.

According to DIICOT, the group also involved current employees of the Ministry of the Interior participating in its illegal activities.

The criminal group illegally obtained work permits for 1,181 foreign nationals, mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh (more than 80%) but also from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Sudan. These people were often redirected to economically developed European countries without any additional contact with the company recruiting them. The group also helped foreign nationals overstay their visas through corrupt practices with immigration officials.

Investigations found that migrants paid between 500 and 1,000 euros for a work permit, with costs rising if faster processing was needed, reaching 5,000 to 6,000 euros per person.

The matter is thorny in the context of Romania's Schengen aspirations and Austria's previous opposition to migrant concerns. Austria cited the transit of migrants via Romania and Bulgaria to other EU states as the basis for its objection last year.

(Catalina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)

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