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Spirit Airlines sells Chicago airport gates to American Airlines at a cost of $30 million
Spirit Aviation has agreed to transfer two airport gates for $30 million to American Airlines after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge for the Southern District of New York granted the company's Monday request. Spirit filed for bankruptcy a second-time in August as it struggled to deal with its dwindling reserves of cash and increasing losses. The company has rejected over 80 leases and left 14 airports. Spirit Airlines has decided to optimize its network and no longer need all four preferential gate at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. It will keep two gates, while American Airlines gets two gates. According to a court filing in November, Spirit operated approximately 32 departures on peak days from O'Hare. Since then, the number has been halved. A court filing stated that the price of $15 million for each gate was considered reasonable by both parties, based on market conditions and "lengthy good-faith negotiations". (Reporting and editing by Doyinsola Oladipo, New York)
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Zelenskiy confirms that drones were seen near his path on flight to Ireland
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed on Monday that drones unidentified had been seen near his flight path during his recent trip to Ireland. "There will be a probe... He told reporters that there were indeed drones. He said that he had become used to the situation. Irish media reported Thursday that up to five drones were operating near the path taken by the presidential plane. The Journal, the first to report the sighting of drones at Dublin Airport, stated on its website that it reached the exact location where Zelenskiy’s plane had been expected to be, at the exact time when the plane was due to pass. The Irish Times reported that the aircraft was in no danger and arrived a little early. (Reporting and editing by Kevin Liffey, Tomaszjanowski, and Yuliia Dyesa)
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Carmakers and rental firms urge EU not to mandate EV fleet targets
BMW, Toyota and other automakers and leasing companies from Europe have urged the European Commission to not set mandatory targets on electric vehicle purchases by corporate fleets. They argue that it would be prohibitively expensive and counterproductive. On December 16, the EU executive will unveil a number of proposals that could allow more flexibility for the European automotive sector to meet CO2 emission targets and ease an effective ban on sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles in 2035. The package will include plans for corporate fleets such as company cars which account for 50-60% or the new car sales in Europe. In a letter sent to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and other Commissioners, the 67 signatories stated that the major obstacles to the adoption of EVs are high purchase and operation costs as well as a lackluster charging infrastructure. In the letter, it was stated that a mandatory target could be "highly detrimental" and that companies would have to choose between retaining older cars for longer or reducing their new vehicle purchases due to high costs. Instead, it said that the key to success in European countries where the EVs are updated the fastest is a combination between incentives and investments in charging infrastructure. Second-hand EVs also need incentives, as many leased vehicles are sold after two to three years. The signatories include BNP Paribas Arval, Societe Generale Ayvens and Avis Bolt and Hertz, as well as some national rental and lease associations. Climate Group, a campaigning association, supports a mandated goal and points out that more than 120 companies have committed to 100% electric fleets. These include EDF, Ikea and Siemens. Lobbying has been frenetic for the EU's Automotive Package, whose publication has been delayed a week. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey; Philip Blenkinsop)
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Tanzanians are urged to stay at home in anticipation of protests
Tanzania's Government warned on Monday, that the planned protests for Tuesday were illegal and would amount to a coup attempt. Security forces had been deployed in large numbers throughout major cities. Following the violent suppression during the October elections, in which hundreds of people were killed, activists and the opposition called for protests against the government on Tuesday. "Those protests were not allowed and are illegal... this is not a demonstration, it is a coup," said Home Affairs Minister George Simbachawene in a press briefing held in Tanzania's commercial heartland Dar es Salaam. "Our security organs are going to handle them." The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights called on authorities to respect the fundamental rights before the planned demonstrations. They also demanded the lifting of an nationwide protest ban and warned against excessive force. Seif Magango said that security forces should allow Tanzanians the right to peaceful assembly and speech and not use force to disperse gatherings. Stay at home! The October protests were sparked by the exclusion from the presidential elections of the leading opposition candidates. Samia Hassan, the incumbent president with almost 98% of the votes, was declared to be the winner. The government acknowledged that people died, but did not provide its own death count. It rejected claims that the police used excessive force. In a video that was posted on X Monday, Mwigulu Nchemba, the Prime Minister, urged people to remain at home without mentioning directly the anticipated protests. He said that the government advised all citizens, who do not have an urgent need on December 9, to take the day off and enjoy it at home. Those whose jobs require them to work at their desks are exempt. Police said that Friday, any protest would be illegal as authorities had not been notified in writing by the organisers. Witnesses reported that heavy police and military deployments were visible Monday along major highways in Dar es Salaam, and Arusha to the north. Hassan appointed a commission for the investigation of election-related violence, but he has denied repeatedly that security forces had acted in an improper manner and accused protesters to try to overthrow government. Last week, the United States announced that it would be reviewing its relationship to Tanzania due to concerns over violence against civilians and religious freedom. Vincent Mumo Nzilani (Writing) Editing Elias Biryabarema Peter Graff Aiden Lewis
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Congress is considering requiring the US military to report near-misses and use helicopter safety alerts in close proximity to DC airport.
According to the annual defense policy legislation, which was unveiled on Sunday night, U.S. Military helicopters that are conducting training missions will need to send out alerts to commercial aircraft near Reagan Washington National Airport in order to avoid collisions. A Black Hawk Army helicopter that was on a training flight and not using the ADS-B safety system collided in January with an American Airlines regional plane near an airport outside Washington. 67 people were killed. The 3,000 page legislation would also require that the Pentagon disclose to Congress how many near misses military aircraft had with commercial planes in the past 10 years, and to issue future reports on incidents. The bill doesn't specify what type of alerts military helicopters would be required to use. The Defense Department can only waive this requirement after a thorough risk assessment has been conducted and the risks to commercial aircraft have been addressed. The Senate Commerce Committee passed a bill in October requiring the use of ADS-B following the collision that occurred in January. The annual defense bill, on the other hand, requires a feasibility report on installing ADS-B in all military helicopters. Ted Cruz, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee in October, said that the bill "closes an unsafe loophole which allowed military aircraft to fly in domestic skies and not communicate their position to other pilots quickly and accurately like commercial aircraft." Both partisan lawmakers and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy questioned the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to take action for years in response to close calls with military helicopters near Washington Reagan National Airport. The bill would mandate safety reviews at Reagan National Airport and other major airports, and direct the Army Inspector General's Office (AIG) to conduct a safety audit. In April, the FAA announced that government helicopters would be required to use ADS-B near Reagan National. After a close call, the FAA banned the Army from flying helicopters around the Pentagon in May. FAA also took steps to increase separation between jets and helicopters. Senator Maria Cantwell of the Commerce Committee, who sponsored the bill as well in October, cited a NTSB report from March which stated that there have been 15,200 incidents since 2021 involving commercial aircraft and helicopters near Reagan National, including 85 close calls. Cantwell's and Cruz’s offices declined comment on the provisions of the defense bill.
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Minister: Morocco will open two deepwater ports in 2026 and 2020
Nizar Baraka, the Equipment and Water Minister, said that Morocco would open a deepwater Mediterranean port in 2019 and an Atlantic port in 2028. The North African nation is aiming to duplicate the success of Africa’s largest port, Tanger Med. Baraka said in an interview that the Nador West Med project, currently under construction in the Mediterranean, will be operational by the second half 2026. He said that the industrial zone will cover 800 hectares and be expanded to 5000, which is more than Tanger Med. The port will host Morocco's first liquefied gas terminal - a floating gas storage and regasification (FSRU) unit - connected by a pipe to industrial hubs to the northwest. Morocco is pushing investments in renewable energy and natural gas to reduce its dependence on coal. Morocco is also building a port worth $1 billion in Dakhla on the Atlantic Coast, which is in the disputed Western Sahara. Baraka stated that the facility would be surrounded with 1,600 hectares of industrial land and 5,200 acres of farmland that will be irrigated using desalinated drinking water. Baraka stated that the port would be completed in 2028, and it will be the deepest port in Morocco at 23 meters. He said that such depth would be ideal for heavy industries that process raw materials from Sahel-based countries. Officials have promoted Dakhla to landlocked Sahel countries as a gateway to global trade. Baraka stated that both Nador and Dakhla will have quays for exporting green hydrogen as soon as production begins. Nador and Dakhla will be Morocco's third- and fourth-deepwater ports, after Tanger Med, a port for energy, bulk cargo, and phosphate exports on the Atlantic. Official figures indicate that by 2024, the industrial zones around Tanger Med will host 1,400 companies employing 130,000 workers in sectors such as automotive, aeronautics and textiles. Baraka stated that Morocco also considers building a port at Tan-Tan, on the Atlantic, in partnership with green hydrogen investors. Baraka stated that "we are conducting studies in order to determine the size of the port." (Reporting and editing by Aiden Lewis; Ahmed Eljechtimi)
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Orban: Turkey will guarantee the flow of Russian gas into Hungary
Orban announced on Monday that Recep Tayyip Erdoan, the Turkish president, and Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister had agreed that Turkey would guarantee that Russian natural gas could continue to flow into Hungary. Hungary's reliance on Russian gas since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict has been criticized by several European Union allies and NATO members. Hungary has signed a 15 year deal with Russia in 2021 to purchase 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per annum. Last year, Hungary increased its purchases from Gazprom, importing approximately 7.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas through the Turkstream pipeline. Orban, in a state-run channel M1 broadcast press conference, said: "Today, I agreed with President Erdogan that you will guarantee the route, so that we can ship (gas) from Russia into Hungary." Orban said that Hungary had received 7.5 billion cubic metres of gas via the Turkstream pipeline this year. Orban had pushed for an exemption to U.S. sanctions after a friendly meeting in Washington with President Donald Trump. Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end November in Moscow. On Facebook, he said he was in Moscow to "ensure Hungary's energy supplies are secure for the winter and the next year". (Reporting and editing by Barbara Lewis; Anita Komuves)
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Greek farmers protest EU funding delays by blocking borders, airports and roads
A nationwide protest on Monday, triggered by delays in funding, saw Greek farmers shut down an airport on Crete's island. They also blocked roads and crossed the border and threw rocks at police. Local media reported that protesters had deployed thousands of trucks, tractors and other vehicles in at least twenty blockades throughout the country. Police used tear gas to disperse a group protesting farmers at Heraklion Airport in Crete who were throwing stones and forcing their way onto runway. This halted air traffic. A second group, near the Chania Airport in Crete, smashed windows of police cars with shepherd's crooks. The police officials confirmed that the perpetrators had been identified, and they would be prosecuted. After a scandal involving the corruption of state employees and some farmers who lied about land ownership in order to receive payments, Greek farmers are facing a 600-million euro ($700-million) shortfall. The audits are still ongoing and have caused delays in subsequent payments. Farmers and stock breeders are struggling with an outbreak that has caused hundreds of thousands to be culled of sheep and goats. Prokopis BANDZIS, a farmer protesting on Lesbos island, said: "We have no help. Climate change has affected production in a big way. And the corruption scandal is causing people to get huge amounts of money who are not even involved with farming." "I want justice. "Those who were involved in the illegal subsidies must be held accountable for their actions." Kyriakos Miastotakis, Prime Minister Kyriakos, who was criticised for the scandal, asked farmers to stop the blockades, and said that the government is ready to talk. The government acknowledged that payments were delayed and has promised to pay out 3.7 billion euro ($4.3 billion) in this year to farmers. But protests persist. Farmers in the north disrupted traffic on Monday at the Promachonas border crossing with Bulgaria and Kipi, respectively. Customs officials at the Kipi border crossing said only trucks and passenger cars with sensitive cargo were allowed to pass. In southwestern and Central Greece, farmers also set up roadblocks to try and block the Volos Port this week. The entrance to Mytilene port on Lesbos was blocked by hundreds of farmers. $1 = 0.8584 Euros (Reporting and editing by Barbara Lewis; Edward McAllister and William Maclean).
SPECIAL REPORT-A new $72,000 migrant smuggling path to the US begins with a charter flight
When a Legend Airlines Jet A340 landed at San Salvador airport on July 15 after an 18hour flight from the United Arab Emirates, its team quickly understood something was incorrect.
Salvadoran officials declined to connect the jet bridge to enable the roughly 300 travelers, all Indian nationals, to disembark, according to 3 previous team members on the flight who talked to on condition of anonymity.
Several travelers informed the cabin team they planned to travel onward to Mexico and cross the border there unlawfully into the U.S., one crew member stated. Others stated they were going on vacation to the Mexican border city of Tijuana, another crew member said.
Salvadoran authorities were currently on high alert when the flight landed. A number of months previously, U.S. and Salvadoran authorities had observed an uncommon pattern of charter airplane landing in El Salvador bring primarily Indian nationals.
The aircrafts were arriving complete and leaving empty, a U.S. official stated. And some travelers claiming to be tourists brought just a backpack for weeks-long trips. U.S. authorities later found that almost all of the charter passengers disembarking in San Salvador had crossed the border into the U.S., the authorities stated.
Such charter flights represent a new stage of illegal migration to the U.S., 5 U.S. officials said in interviews with . Increasingly, they stated, migrants from outdoors Latin America are paying smuggling networks hefty costs for travel bundles that can consist of airline tickets-- on charter and airlines-- to fly to Central America and then bus rides and hotel stays en path to the U.S.-Mexico border.
You have particular charter transport business charging extortion-level prices to take advantage of and profit from vulnerable migrants and assisting in irregular migration to the United States, Eric Jacobstein, deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere, told .
Jacobstein declined to talk about Legend or recognize specific companies.
Liliana Bakayoko, a Paris-based lawyer representing Legend considering that December, said the Romanian charter airline company has not been accused of misdeed by any authorities. She added that she was unaware of the July flight and said the airline company was essentially like a cab driver.
The record number of migrant arrests at the southwest U.S. border, which topped more than 2 million last , has emerged as a significant vulnerability for Democratic President Joe Biden in November's governmental elections, with viewpoint polls revealing more Americans trust Republican former President Donald Trump's hardline approach to migration.
On June 4, Biden-- routing in the polls in crucial battleground states-- revealed executive actions to reject access to asylum and rapidly deport migrants or turn them back to Mexico if crossings surpass a specific threshold. It stays unclear how the policy will operate in practice for migrants from faraway nations, which account for a growing share of unlawful migration.
About 9% of irregular crossings at the U.S. border in the 2023 involved migrants from outdoors Latin America, or about 188,000 individuals, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security information. A years back, people from outside the Americas represented hardly 1% of irregular arrivals.
The Biden administration associates the historic levels of migration to international financial and political instability. Trump has actually blamed the high border crossings on Biden's policies.
Indian nationals were the largest single group from outside the Americas came across at the border in 2015, making up about 42,000 arrivals. Migrants from 15 West African nations represented another 39,700, with the majority of from Senegal and Mauritania.
The Biden administration has actually been working with some regional federal governments along with travel business to suppress the circulation of migrants.
In March, it began revoking U.S. visas for owners and executives of charter airline companies and other companies thought to be helping with smuggling. The State Department's Jacobstein decreased to call people or companies affected or the number of had faced limitations. was unable to individually establish which companies had been targeted.
In May, the administration cautioned commercial airlines to be on the lookout for passengers who may be planning to migrate illegally to the U.S. Apprehensions on the border in April fell 48% from December, U.S. federal government data show, which U.S. authorities attribute in part to tougher enforcement by Mexico.
El Salvador's Vice President Felix Ulloa stated in an interview that his government has long-term, consistent, and reliable partnership with the U.S. to fight irregular migration. The intro of visa requirements and $1,000. transit fees on people of India and numerous African countries last. October has significantly lowered the variety of migrants. transiting through San Salvador, he stated.
However as some routes for unlawful migration get squeezed,. others open up.
CHARTER FLIGHTS AND TRAVEL PLANS
and Columbia Journalism Investigations, the. university's postgraduate reporting program, traced two brand-new. intercontinental migrant smuggling paths. The reporting for. this story draws from previously unreported aviation data,. border figures acquired through Flexibility of Details Act. demands, and near to 100 interviews with federal government officials,. authorities, airline company employees, smugglers, travel agents and migrants. in nine nations.
One route begins in West Africa, with migrants paying up to. $ 10,000 for multi-stop commercial flights to Nicaragua, in the past. continuing by land to the U.S.
. The second, serving migrants from India, offers charter. flights to Central America and overland transfers to the U.S. border for in between 6 million ($ 72,000) and 8 million rupees. ($ 96,000) per individual-- in many circumstances with full payment due. after arrival in the U.S, according to Indian court files. and K.T. Kamariya, a deputy superintendent of cops in the. western Indian state of Gujarat investigating unlawful migration.
The new paths by means of Central America avoid the visa. requirements for migrants flying straight into Mexico. They also. avoid the harmful northward travel across the jungle region. in between Colombia and Panama, known as the Darien Gap, that. migrants deal with after showing up in some nations in South America. with lax visa regimes.
Blas Nuñez-Neto, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's. assistant secretary for Border and Immigration Policy, singled. out Nicaragua as the new entry point for many migrants. President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla and Cold War. foe of the United States, has actually been called out by. Washington for authoritarianism following crackdowns on internal. demonstrations and opposition groups.
Nicaragua has actually, I believe, sadly been. weaponizing these circulations, Nuñez-Neto stated in an interview. It's. tough when you have a government in the area that has. essentially tossed its doors open and enables anybody from. anywhere in the world to fly directly in exchange for a cash. payment.
Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo, who manages. interactions for the federal government, did not respond to requests. for remark.
' TON OF CONCERNS'
The abortive Legend Airlines flight to El Salvador-- which. has actually not been formerly reported-- originated in Fujairah in the. UAE, with a stopover in Paris, according to aviation data from. global tracking service Flightradar24 examined .
As the Plane stayed parked at the gate in San Salvador,. crew members popped open a cockpit window to ferry in food and. water. But no cleaners were enabled on board and a passenger. experiencing kidney stones was not given access to medical. care, according to air travel data and the 3 team members.
When the aircraft removed to go back to the UAE about 8. hours later on, the pilot and attendants, who had actually joined the flight. on a quick stopover in Paris some 19 hours earlier, were still. on responsibility.
The passengers, consisting of kids, were on board for around. 2 full days, the team members stated. Video footage shown. shows flight personnel dropping trash bags from the open. cabin door onto the tarmac before they prepared for take-off.
The Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority stated it was. notified of the event and about U.S. concerns that some. Indian passengers taking a trip to Central America on such charter. flights had strategies to irregularly move to the United States.
But it stated: Romanian CAA has no legal responsibility as. regards the migration laws relevant in the United States of. America.
There are a great deal of Indian people traveling all over,. Legend's legal representative Bakayoko said. So really, it was not. suspicious at all.
She would not reveal who employed Legend to fly the charters.
The turned-around flight was the 3rd Legend flight to San. Salvador taped in aviation data over a two-week period. starting June 29.
Travelers aboard the first flight in June had been enabled. to deplane however Salvadoran airport officials were suspicious,. according to one cabin team member on board.
They were asking us a ton of concerns like, where were we. from? Where is the business from? Where, when was the business. established? the team member said.
Legend registered in Romania in 2020, according to the. Romanian government's official database of business. Legend's. owners-- Ramin Youresh, a former executive of Afghanistan's Kam. Air, and Timor Shah Shahab-- did not respond to ask for. comment. was unable to discover passengers who were on the. flight.
Bakayoko would not comment on the business's ownership. structure.
After the July flight was reversed from El Salvador,. aviation data reveal no more flights to Central America up until. December 9, when a Legend Airplane landed in Managua. The information. show 4 additional Legend flights heading to Managua over the. next 2 weeks.
By this point, the U.S. considered Nicaragua a major hub of. extra-continental irregular migration, Jacobstein said.
Some 879,000 travelers landed at Managua's airport last. year, according to information from Nicaragua's Central Bank, a 56%. increase from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic ground flights. to a halt. Only 573,000 individuals flew out of the airport.
A senior U.S. Custom-mades and Border Protection official said. that on some airline routes into the region, more. than 10% of seats were filled by people meaning to move to. the U.S. The authorities declined to name specific companies. running these flights.
Nicaragua's finance ministry taped income of 1.9 billion. Nicaraguan cordobas ($ 52 million) from landing and transit visa. fees in 2015, less than 2% of the federal government's total. profits, but more than 5 times the earnings from those exact same. costs in 2019.
The Biden administration in May took actions to impose visa. limitations on 250 Nicaraguan officials and sanctions on. government-affiliated companies over irregular migration and. repressive policies. On the day sanctions were revealed, Vice. President Murillo did not address them straight, but knocked. traitors, cowards and offer outs who serve the Yankee. imperialists on regional television.
MAMA AFRICA
Late on the evening of Aug 28, Ismaila Diop, 30, a. small-business owner from Senegal, landed at Managua aboard. Avianca flight TA315. On arrival, Diop said he paid $160 for a. tourist visa and got a taxi from the airport to the Honduran. border, 5 hours away. His Nicaraguan chauffeur confirmed the. trip and the $50 fare.
Diop flew from Dakar to Rabat to Madrid, where he boarded an. Avianca flight to Managua with stopovers in Bogota and San. Salvador, ticket stubs and photos reveal.
Taking part in gay sex is criminalized in Senegal. Diop, who. recognizes as bisexual, said he left after an extreme beating left. him unable to work for near to a month. His account was. verified by medical records, photos and asylum files. evaluated and CJI.
In Senegal, there are some individuals who do not believe in. that, he stated, describing same-sex relationships. Either you. go to jail or you get eliminated.
Diop stated a gay friend in the U.S. passed on the contact of. a ticket broker in Morocco named Lisa Sow. Diop wired more than. 2 million CFA francs ($ 3,200) to Sow, who told and CJI. she utilized the cash to buy Diop a plane ticket to Nicaragua.
In addition to Diop, and CJI talked to 11 other. migrants from West African nations who said they flew Avianca. to Nicaragua before heading to the U.S. border.
Colombian airline company Avianca has for a number of years been the top. provider into Managua, the flight information showed.
Asked about the migrants' accounts and the data, Avianca stated. that it can not discriminate against travelers who fulfill the. requirements to travel. It added that it has taken measures. versus irregular migratory traffic such as limiting and. canceling connections between Europe and different locations,. particularly Managua.
Avianca said in the emailed statement that it is likewise. monitoring ticket sales, enhancing document confirmation. treatments and delivering timely data to the authorities.
Along the way to the U.S. border, Diop-- taking a trip in a. group of about a lots Senegalese migrants-- was passed off to. organized groups of smugglers who went by their given names just. or called themselves Mother Africa.
Honduran law permits migrants to transit the country lawfully. within 5 days if they sign up with officials on arrival,. Allan Alvarenga, the director of Honduras' National Migration. Institute, which supervises the nation's migration matters,. informed and CJI.
When they reached Guatemala, Diop and the other migrants satisfied. up with a smuggler who took them to a hotel, provided a meal of. fried chicken, rice and vegetables, and outfitted them with. plastic yellow wristbands.
The police, if they stop you, you show your bracelet, Diop. said of his journey through Guatemala, They let you pass.
Rolando Mazariegos, an authorities at Guatemala's Migration. Institute, which manages migratory flows through the country,. stated illegal border crossers are returned to Honduras and that. the government has actually prosecuted authorities suspected of conspiring. with migrant smugglers. He said crackdowns by the U.S. and other. countries were making smuggling more expensive.
The more controls that are put in location by security forces. or migration authorities, the more the traffickers charge,. Mazariegos said.
In Sonoyta, Mexico, a town throughout the border from U.S. nationwide parkland in Arizona, a Mexican smuggler who likewise called. himself Mama Africa showed Diop where to cross through gaps in. the border fence. Diop stated the guy told him to wait on U.S. agents so he could ask for asylum.
The guided journey cost Diop an additional $1,400, he said,. adding that he paid with cost savings.
A Nicaraguan migrant smuggler said they began working with. African migrants in November 2022. This smuggler stated lots of. migrants usually pay up to $7,000 for flight and as much. as an extra $3,000 to make it to the U.S. border.
The smuggler, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they. were connected to migrants by representatives in Senegal. It's all by. recommendation. Over the last few months, their network has. arranged about eight trips a week of some 20 people each-- now. mostly Mauritanians, the smuggler stated.
The smuggler stated the variety of migrants arriving in. Nicaragua had actually dropped because late last year, an account two. extra migrant traffickers backed up in interviews.
Given that his arrival in New york city last year, Diop has been. staying in migrant shelters and is now in a tented migrant. facility on the city's Randall's Island.
' UNLUCKY EACH TIME'
On December 21, French authorities apprehended a charter. aircraft on a stopover at the small Paris-Vatry airport after. receiving an anonymous pointer, according to the Paris district attorney's. workplace.
The aircraft, en path to Managua from Fujairah, was operated. by Legend Airlines, the very same operator that got turned back from. San Salvador in July.
Of the 303 Indian nationals on board, 276 returned to. India, according to Indian cops records.
Tiphaine Watier, a public protector based at Vatry airport,. said some passengers were so desperate to get to Nicaragua they. went on an appetite strike in the airport: There were people who. had actually offered whatever, their home, their vehicle.
Bakayoko said that Legend was not charged with any offense. by French authorities. The Paris prosecutor's workplace said an. examination into migrant smuggling is ongoing and no one has. been charged.
After the Paris occurrence, Legend executed very. strict new policies, focusing on avoid any sort of. possible prohibited migration, Bakayoko said. The company has. refused dozens of potentially suspicious flights, she added.
Flight information show no Legend paths to Central America after. December.
Among the passengers sent back to India was Gurpreet Singh,. 22, the unemployed son of a farmer from Naurangabad, Punjab. He. stated he was charged 6 million rupees ($ 72,000) for the trip.
The deportation from France marked his 3rd of 5 stopped working. efforts to immigrate unlawfully to the U.S.
So many of my good friends went through these routes and they. all discovered jobs, however I just got unlucky each time, Gurpreet. stated in a phone interview. I took a loan to pay the representative and I. did not have a job awaiting me in the U.S., but I understand that. once you land there then many options open up.
Gurpreet paid the representative, Sultan Singh, a 1 million rupee. ($ 12,000) deposit, with the 5 million rupee ($ 60,000) balance. due on arrival in the U.S., according to a Delhi airport police. press release. Gurpreet did not comment on the expense of the. trips.
Sultan, 32, owner of M/S Worldwide Visa Option, a travel. representative in Amritsar, Punjab, has been charged with forgery,. according to Usha Rangnani, deputy commissioner of Delhi's. airport cops.
Sultan, talked to at his home, said he is innocent of the. forgery charge and had absolutely nothing to do with unlawful immigration.
Gurpreet's first attempt to move remained in September 2023. by means of a flight to Vietnam, but he returned voluntarily, Rangnani. said. In November, he was deported from Qatar after authorities. found a fake Brazilian visa.
Days after the Legend flight, he was deported from Dubai. when authorities found the French deportation stamp. In his. 5th stopped working effort, Gurpreet was deported from Almaty on. March 8, after Kazakh authorities found torn pages in his. passport.
Indian authorities charged him with forgery and he is out on. bail, stated his attorney, Abhay Kumar Mishra.
Gurpreet's dad, Kartar Singh, wants to set him up with a. farm supply shop in the town.
I have had lots of sleepless nights wondering which part of. the world he is stuck in, his mother Dalbir Kaur said. He said. he will make enough cash in one year in America that someone. earns in six or 7 years in India, so I kept agreeing to his. exit plans. And now I think he should sit tight and discover some work. here.
(source: Reuters)