Dozens Arrested in Raids to Stem Illegal Influx of Kosovars

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/world/europe/raids-against-kosovo-smuggling-network.html

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BERLIN — The police in seven countries, trying to stanch the mass migration of Kosovars through Serbia and into the European Union, arrested 77 people accused of running a smuggling operation, the European authorities said on Wednesday.

The announcement of the arrests appeared intended not only to deter smugglers but also to signal that European officials are cracking down on the tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo who started streaming north last fall.

Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other countries were shocked by the sudden influx of asylum applications, which are unlikely to be granted. In Austria, up to 550 people a week had been arriving this year, though the flow has trickled to 40 to 50 a week, the Austrian federal criminal office said Wednesday.

Forty-six people were arrested on Tuesday, including eight in Vienna, 16 in the Czech Republic, 12 in France, four in Hungary, three in Kosovo, two in Slovakia and one in Germany, the pan-European Europol and Eurojust offices in The Hague announced.

Thirty-one others accused of being part of a network of smugglers had been arrested in raids since last October, the Austrian federal criminal office said.

Michela Kohlweiss, head of the police in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia, told reporters that Kosovars were lured north by Facebook pages depicting the good life in Europe with photos of bundles of 500 euro notes, jewelry and alcohol.

Facilitators charged 2,800 euros, or $3,080 per person, or €7,000 for a whole family to be smuggled from Kosovo, through Serbia and into Hungary, where some claimed asylum. Others were smuggled onward in vehicles through Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria to final destinations in Switzerland, Italy and France, Europol and Eurojust said in a statement.

Authorities in the destination countries have mounted a strong campaign against migration from Kosovo and even sent their own police officers to the Serbian-Hungarian border to stop the flow. Kosovo Albanians who rejoiced in their declaration of independence in 2008 have said the shattered economy and corruption in their country has left them no choice but to leave the impoverished Balkans and seek work in western Europe.