American media revealed four smuggling routes： crossing the Sahara and landing in Europe.

　　　 According to comprehensive foreign news reports, every year, thousands of people around the world leave their homes to make a living in other countries in order to avoid war, hunger and poverty, and a considerable number of them are illegal immigrants. However, what awaits them is not an imaginary paradise. Recently, an American magazine published an article revealing several important smuggling routes in the world and the tragic fate of most illegal immigrants.

　　South American stowaways become victims of drug traffickers

　　It takes many passes to enter the United States

　　Mexico has always been the main source of illegal immigrants to the United States, and it is also regarded as the best passage for illegal immigrants from many countries to enter the United States. Every year, about 75,000 Guatemalans cross the dangerous Mexican border and come to Mexico. However, local smuggling activities are controlled by drug trafficking groups. Sometimes, drug trafficking groups will deliberately let border guards find illegal immigrants to divert their attention from drug trafficking activities. In recent years, because the United States has stepped up its crackdown, many illegal immigrants have been forced to move from Texas and California to Arizona.

　　South Americans choose to smuggle mainly because of economic considerations. Many people smuggle into the United States to find a job and earn more money to send home. In addition, the rampant violence in some countries in South America is also an important reason for some people to flee abroad.

　　People who want to sneak into the United States face a severe blow. Border patrol, national guard, militia, activists against illegal immigration and so on are all powerful opponents they have to face.

　　Eastern Europe becomes a pornographic smuggling channel

　　Marriage and employment is the best bait.

　　In recent years, the number of people smuggling into the EU countries through Eastern Europe has surged, which has led to the rapid development of the smuggling market in this region. According to the statistics of relevant EU institutions, the annual transaction volume is more than 12 billion US dollars. The sources of people smuggling through this route are complicated. Some people enter Western Europe from Central Asia via Russia, and then via Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic and other countries. Others pass through Iran and Turkey and then turn to the Balkans. Recently, the Romanian port of constanza has become an important transit point, and it has recently become a transit point for American planes to go to Iraq.

　　Most of the illegal immigrants here are women who want to get rid of poverty and unemployment. In many Central Asian and Eastern European countries, the unemployment rate of women is much higher than that of men. Therefore, when traffickers take marriage and employment as bait, many women in these countries will fall for it.

　　Those lucky few illegal immigrants can get poor jobs through some informal means, while most people, especially women, will be detained by their so-called employers as soon as they arrive at their destination, and they will be forced to engage in pornography. Some people can finally return to their hometown with the rescue and help of the local government, but the trauma of their hearts may never be healed.

　　Cross the Sahara and land in Europe

　　Death at any time during a dangerous journey

　　In recent years, more and more people from central and southern Africa choose to sneak out of the country. In 2006, at least 26,000 Africans landed in the Canary Islands of Spain, five times that of 2005. But more people didn’t flee so far. They came to Egypt, Libya, Algeria and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The smuggling trip from Africa to the European continent is very dangerous. They first have to cross the Sahara to the southern coast of Morocco, and then many people crowded on small motorboats to cross the sea to Spain. In the first 10 months of 2006, 3,000 people were killed while crossing the sea.

　　The continuous wars and economic deterioration in West Africa and other regions are the important reasons why people choose to leave. On the other hand, the thirst for a large number of cheap labor in European and North African countries also makes these places the first choice for stowaways.

　　In order to crack down on smuggling activities, port cities such as Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco have built barbed wire, the Strait of Gibraltar is also equipped with an early warning surveillance radar system, and European countries have also provided helicopters and other equipment to North African governments. The "success rate" of smuggling activities is getting lower and lower.

　　Iraqi refugees are all over the Middle East.

　　European and American countries are also not easy to treat.

　　In the past 20 years, about 200,000 people came from South Asia to the oil-producing countries in the Middle East. However, in recent years, the main force of immigrants and smugglers in the Middle East has become Iraqis. In Syria, Jordan and other countries, a large number of Iraqi refugees poured in, some Iraqis simply fled to the United States, and some routes were more complicated, from Iraq to Sweden via Turkey, Italy and Central European countries.

　　The sectarian conflict and the deteriorating domestic situation in Iraq are the main reasons for the large number of Iraqis fleeing, and some people are looking for a better job.

　　The refugees who escaped from Iraq also had a hard time. The indifference of the people in other Gulf countries, the high unemployment rate in neighboring Syria, and the strict censorship in Sweden and the United States all gave them a headache.

(Editor: Wang Huimian)