Valletta: Intelligence reports that smugglers are using chartered planes and boats to smuggle people to Europe. People are being smuggled into Libya by plane from Bangladesh and Syria.
From there, it is transported by boat to reach Europe. Cham Wings, a Syrian airline blacklisted by the EU, operates chartered flights between Damascus and Benghazi.
Malta issued a letter requesting action.
Migrants rescued by authorities from a recent boat accident provided the information to the European border agency Frontex as well as the Italian and Maltese police. The European Commission and EU interior ministers have been given information about the smuggling network.
Byron Camilleri, Malta’s Interior Minister, addressed the issue in Parliament. The minister also stated that he had written to the European Commission requesting that action be taken against the airline that facilitates smuggling.
Hundreds of migrants have arrived.
According to reports, Bangladeshis are taking chartered flights from Damascus to Libya and then crossing the sea from there. Hundreds of Bangladeshi migrants are using charter flights to travel to Libya and then Europe. For this, 1,500 Euros are charged from the migrants, and 500 Euros are also charged as an administration fee.
At the airport, special travel agencies issue flight tickets to migrants. You can only get it if you pay. Intelligence indicates that smugglers are booking flights for migrants using their passports.
Cham Wings by Issam Shammout has been blacklisted in the EU.
Issam Shammout, a Syrian businessman, owns Cham Wings. The airline is a subsidiary of the Shammout Group, which operates in the automotive, steel, aviation, freight forwarding, construction, and real estate industries.
In December 2021, the EU blacklisted the company for illegally transporting migrants from Belarus to Poland. It was removed on July 20 of last year. However, it was blacklisted again the next day.
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