By DPA
Islamabad : Pakistan's embassy in Athens has been alerted by authorities in Islamabad that some 10,000 illegal immigrants are being moved to Greece and Italy via Turkey by a criminal network in collusion with corrupt officials, a press report said Monday.
Described as the largest illegal movement of Pakistanis to Europe, the operation is due to take place between now and September as human smugglers exploit a recent relaxation in Greek immigration rules, the Dawn newspaper reported, citing diplomatic sources and documents it obtained.
The network not only involves "influential people" in Pakistan but also a number of Greek police officials who allegedly provide safe passage to immigrants, it said.
Weaknesses in law enforcement systems are first used to move people from Pakistan to Turkey, where immigrants who already made the journey army uniform helped them to cross the border in a bus.
Upon entering Greece, they are reportedly transported to Athens in vehicles resembling Greek army vehicles.
Pakistan is regarded as a regional hub of human smuggling and trafficking operations to Europe and the Middle East. Security services last year arrested almost 900 people engaged in the practice, according to Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency.
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