Migrants and the underground economy in Europe

30.9.2015

Question for written answer E-013298-15
to the Council
Rule 130
Jean-François Jalkh (ENF)

The recent flood of immigrants in Europe highlights the sordid reality of human trafficking. It is run by mafias which organise, for their own profit, the large-scale movement of people from the East towards Europe. We know that these people, who have no future in Europe, are just items to be traded by foreign mafias for their own profit. We are ‘importing’ not just a large number of dispossessed people from non-EU countries but also their mafias and organised gangs and the risk of their being terrorists.

If the question of people-smugglers abroad is a thorny one, that of criminal gangs in the EU can and must be dealt with urgently. Whilst hey now enjoy almost total impunity, people-smugglers could in theory be sentenced to over 10 years in prison.

Does the Council intend to coordinate the fight against mafia networks at European level with the aim of keeping them out of Europe?