Colombo: For years, it has been a predominantly domestic phenomenon in Sri Lanka – large numbers of aspiring emigrants adopting illegal means to reach Europe, but recent trends indicate that Indians are also keen to use the island nation for human smuggling.

Since August, batches of Indians have been found preparing to use Sri Lanka as a transit point on their way to Italy or Greece, authorities in Colombo say.

Fourteen of them – all Sikhs from Punjab – are in a prison near Colombo. They were arrested three months ago from a hotel in which they were waiting to be taken by ship to Italy. Four of them were allegedly carrying fake passports.

Earlier, a large group of 43 Indians was sent back home after they were found waiting in vain for a vessel to pick them up from the Southern port city of Galle in September.

Each of them had paid Rs two or three lakh to agents in India who had promised to get them on board vessels that would take them to Italy.

Sri Lanka has been battling illegal immigration for years, as hundreds seek to flee the island looking for better prospects. It is a thriving network of local agents and their foreign counterparts who procure or forge documents like passports, visas and papers that identify the travellers as 'seamen'.

It could be the tip of the iceberg, say the authorities after speaking to the 43 people. We do not know if many more Indians have successfully boarded ships in the past, as only a few of them have been caught.

Based on their statements, two agents in New Delhi have been identified, and the economic offences wing of the Delhi police is investigating the racket.

The main reason for these agents to send their 'clients' to Sri Lanka is that illegal emigration is far more established in its coastal areas, thanks to some lax monitoring, authorities say.

It is different in India, where ships intending to pick up illegal passengers will not come close to the coast but remain many kilometres away to avoid Coast Guard vessels. Agents cannot convince people to board a smaller boat unless they sight the ship, they say. In Sri Lanka, these ships are brought closer to the coast to pick up these emigrants.

This group of 43, which came to Colombo in two or three batches, was not arrested, but dropped in front of the Indian High Commission by the staff of a hotel after its management found that they had missed their ship.

Five Bangladeshis and six Pakistanis who were also with them were sent to their respective missions.

All of them had valid tourist visas for Sri Lanka, but Indian consular officials seized their passports and other documents for verification. They were given emergency travel documents to return home.

The seized documents included 'continuous discharge certificates' issued by authorities in India to sea workers and identity cards issued by the government of Panama to sailors, indicating that the modus operandi was to get them across the seas by making them pose as sailors.

Indian consular officials are trying to obtain the release of the 14 still in prison as they are yet to be charged with any offence. Sri Lankan police say even trying to leave the country without valid papers is an offence.

The Indian mission has received requests from family members and political leaders from Punjab to obtain the release of these prisoners, pleading that they are innocent victims of a racket and not offenders.

PTI