If Evros could talk

Just 13 years old, and he was turned into a migrant smuggler, carrying Syrian asylum seekers who had slipped into Greece over the Evros border with Turkey to Thessaloniki. On the way to the northern port city, he lost control of the car he was driving and crashed. He managed to get away with a few light injuries, but his 17-year-old accomplice was arrested and, under questioning, revealed his age and identity.

So, it was two children being exploited by ruthless gangs of human traffickers, who obviously passed off the task of smuggling to the youngsters, knowing that they would be treated more leniently.

Considering how much money there is to be made, it should come as no surprise. Many millions of euros fatten pockets on both sides of the great human stock exchange that is the Evros crossing.

The 13-year-old and 17-year-old were promised 350 euros each to get the Syrians to Thessaloniki. Just crossing the Evros River costs a minimum of 2,000 euros per head, according to testimony, and twice that if the river is running high and the risk is greater.

A five-member family from, say, Syria or Afghanistan, therefore, needs 10,000 or perhaps even 20,000 euros. And this is just to cross through Evros, because it takes that much and more to get to western Turkey in the first place. The system operating on both sides of the border is a voracious beast that constantly needs to be fed. And not everyone is innocent among those making the crossing or those conveniently settled in the borderlands ostensibly to help the unfortunate refugees and migrants cross into Greece and then deeper into Europe.

The merchants of hope have many different faces and many powerful connections. They are constantly coming up with new ruses to get their “merchandise” across and increase their profits. They exploit children, spread fake news to get patrols looking elsewhere and sometimes even don the mask of humanitarianism.

One nongovernmental organization recently admitted – and good for it – that it had been mistaken when it trumpeted the news that 38 refugees had become trapped within Greek territory on an islet in Evros and their lives were at risk. The report spread like wildfire, with some publications bringing up claims that a 5-year-old girl had died on the very same islet a few days earlier as a result of the Greek authorities’ intransigence.

Until Thursday at least, there had been no evidence to prove that the incident with the girl was true nor had the spot where the child was allegedly buried been found. We can only hope that this was another incident of fake news, spread by migrant smuggling gangs to pressure the Greek authorities.

Evros is full of human tragedies and secrets – as well as tons of money. If only it could talk…