SouthSudanese boys aged 14-17 charged with piloting migrant boats from Africa to Crete

(File Photo)

Four under-age boys, including a 14-year-old, have been arrested on the southern island of Crete accused of piloting small boats crammed with dozens of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea from north Africa on behalf of Libyan smuggling gangs.

The Coast Guard said that all four minors, who said they were aged 14-17, were identified by other passengers on the smuggling boats as having steered the vessels towards Crete. 

The arduous journey that takes one-and-a-half to two days has become the main route for undocumented migrants into Greece, replacing the short crossing from Turkey’s western coast to the eastern Aegean Sea islands.

All the suspects were from South Sudan. They were arrested Friday after bringing a total 229 migrants to Crete in four small boats. Another two men from South Sudan, aged 21 and 27, were arrested on suspicion of piloting two more boats with a total 132 people on board to the island from eastern Libya’s Tobruk region.

All six faced criminal charges including exposing their passengers to danger and facilitating their illegal entry to Greece.

Tobruk-based smuggling gangs regularly use teenagers from South Sudan to pilot their boats to Crete.

The Greek island has seen more than 10,000 arrivals of people from the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa so far this year, all who had set off from Libya. That’s about half the total 20,000 to have reached Greece since January 1.

Source: https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1312573/boys-aged-14-17-charged-with-piloting-migrant-boats-from-africa-to-crete/