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Refugees and asylum seekers may be paying smugglers up to €5,000 to leave Greece (Photo: Dimitris Papazimouris)

Refugees in Greece smuggled into Europe

Refugees and asylum seekers in Greece may be paying up to €5,000 to get smuggled into Italy and elsewhere in Europe.

Children are left behind with the smugglers who use them as “guarantees” or “deposits” to ensure future payment by desperate parents.

Once the parents obtain asylum, in say Sweden or the Netherlands, the smugglers then escort the children to Athens-based NGOs who are then able to reunite them.

“We have become a tool of the smugglers and part of this game,” Ke...

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Author Bio

Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.

Refugees and asylum seekers may be paying smugglers up to €5,000 to leave Greece (Photo: Dimitris Papazimouris)

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Author Bio

Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.

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