Germany reveals the 7 big lies of people smugglers

Naval vessels patrol the coast trying to spot boats crammed full of desperate people, silently and secretly starting a treacherous journey across the sea. Last year more than 5,000 people died making the Mediterranean crossing. But the hope of a better life is a powerful thing. Many are refugees fleeing violence. So still they come.

And now Germany – whose open-door refugee policy saw more than one million people enter the country in 2015 – is tackling the myths around how asylum and immigration work.

Its Federal Foreign Office is actively distributing information which aims to debunk the rumours and hearsay about what Europe actually has to offer.

Anecdotal stories of well-paid jobs, free healthcare and housing merge with the deliberate lies circulated by people traffickers who can receive more than $1,000 per person per crossing.

Migrants were asked by the media about the most common false promises that the smugglers made.

Germany gives every refugee a house and a 2,000 euro payment, some people were told, and big corporations constantly need a new workforce, so Germany takes in 5,000 migrants daily.

None of this is true, the German foreign office writes, in a document called “7 big lies of traffickers” which is being widely circulated on social media in French, Arabic and English.

Other lies included that Germany reserves 800,000 slots for Afghan refugees alone; the boat is big and comfortable; the journey is 100% legal; and that you can get a visa to Canada if you don’t like Germany.

Not true, says Germany in response, under the hashtag #rumoursaboutgermany.

An escape route

People’s reasons for attempting to reach Europe are complex, multi-layered and often tragic.

Many are fleeing war and relentless violence, and as such can be classed as asylum seekers, with the vast majority of these coming from Syria and then Afghanistan. The number of asylum seekers arriving in Europe has increased dramatically since 2015 as seen in the following graph.

Others are economic migrants, believing they will be able to find jobs and send money back to support their families. Others are fleeing religious persecution – most notably from the Middle East and South Asia.

The UN migration agency, the IOM, says many of those who have attempted the crossing this summer are sub-Saharan Africans.

“The rate of deaths has gone sky high. People looking for work are being told to get into a dinghy and they’ll get a job. These are very vulnerable people ending up in exploitative situations,” the IOM’s chief spokesman Leonard Doyle told the Guardian.

Programmes and initiatives to stop migrants coming have been many and varied: tighter border surveillance; more training for coastguards; better conditions in Lebanese refugee camps; and various schemes designed to create more job opportunities in Africa.

Debunking myths about what to expect in Europe, or Germany in particular, can help people to have a more realistic view of what may lie ahead.

But until the reality of the situations in the countries of origin improve, it is unlikely that it will stop people attempting to escape.