A few days ago I first wrote about one of the stranger aviation stories that we’ve seen in some time, whereby a charter airline was operating an itinerary that aroused suspicion from authorities. There’s now a major update, so let’s go over all the details.
Continue reading: Nicaragua-Bound Jet Grounded In France Over Human Trafficking Fears
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Fujairah has been used for a range of similar activities before, whether that be sanction busting cargo operations or flying Sri Lankans to Indonesia at the height of the Australian "boat people" exodus. The Fujairah Department of Civil Aviation is autonomous within the UAE to issue operating permits and is well known for having more flexible oversight standards than its cousins in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
It is very simple for Indians to get tourist visas to the UAE and even simpler to exit the UAE on a charter flight. No inconvenient questions from Indian immigration either who have been cracking down on Indians traveling to Central America on one-way tickets and leaving directly from India.
This particular operation out of Fujairah has been running for some weeks now - this is by no means their first flight on this route. There are agencies with underworld links that specialise in this kind of human trafficking operation - they have legitimate "front" travel agency businesses and then use those to sell packages that can include anything from charter flights to counterfeit documents to dodgy visas to coyote escorts across land borders.
There are at least two similar operations in West Africa that I am aware of at present which operate in plain view (if not the active endorsement) of the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. The underbelly of global migration is a very different ballgame than the stuff you usually write about.
Hats off to France. Lucky you should see what’s happening at TUS right now. Special TSA lines for non-citizens (immigrants), and the airport is probably 25-40% immigrants from the border crisis. They’re so desperate that when Group 1 is called they all rush the gate. I’ve been trying my best over the past month to help with my Spanish, as I feel for the individual people, but understand it’s a massive problem being overlooked for political reasons.
I know you’re likely on the “other side” of this issue, but it’s important that the American people know what is going on and can decide for themselves.
Any idea whether these passengers are being trafficked (i.e. against their will) or are heading to Nicaragua on their own accord (the end goal being entering the US illegally)?
This exact aircraft has made the same trip multiple times.
Everything going to/from/though the Middle East is being closed tracked by multiple governments including the French.
France, like most countries, wants to know who is on their soil including just for refueling or technical stops.
There are people in government all over the world that understand the horrors of human trafficking and want to shut it down regardless of what others in their same governments want.
When I first heard about this news I was very curious about it. Over 300 Indians in a charter from UAE to Nicaragua ! I mean these shady agent's are getting really innovative by chartering a plane and all instead of just putting the helpless migrants on containers or dingy boats. What audacity? I am sure these guys have a lot of influence with Fujairah and Nicaragua airport authorities.
A very brave move by France to detain the flight with plane full of illegal immigrants following a tip off. Most countries will look away or just fuel up the aircraft take the money and send them on their way. I don’t know what are the Asylum rules in France if they are anything like the US/UK the 300 Indians would gladly seek it instead of going to Nicaragua and then taking the donkey route to the US through the dangerous forests of Panama and the Mexico desert.
Poor judgement by the Legend charter company to use a country like France for refuelling a plane with shady pax. They should have chosen Morocco or some African country for the refuelling stop!
Immigrants taking risks to find work and join family are what made this country great. But that was back when most were from northern Europe. Now, those whose ancestors made the trip successfully are afraid of blood poisoning. Considering the total number trying to enter the US from dozens of country, a few planeloads from India are a drop in the bucket. But what is their success rate? And how much are they paying to try? In any case, I give them an E for Effort. And the employers who will hire them if they make it -- keep contributing to the political campaigns, and you will have nothing to worry about.
How is it trafficking if the people have voluntarily bought a ticket on a charter flight to a country that they can enter legally?
I'm curious about this as well. Assuming all pax are present under voluntary circumstances, who has exactly broken the law here?
Because everyone knows they’ll eventually get to Mexico and try to use a coyote to cross illegally into USA. That’s when it gets ugly. Better to try to stop the migrants at source. Probably.
Should a delta or United flight be grounded and the crew arrested if someone on it was legally in the departure country and could legally enter the arrival country, but has an intention to travel on foot to a third country? How would this be policed?
This is not one person trying to dodge a visa at JFK. It’s 100s of people every day using a well-oiled machine to try to cross borders illegally. And its run by some very unsavoury gangs, not those meany folks at Delta.
Sean, you always have the most interesting and informative replies to Ben's posts. You should start a blog of your own. (Or do you already have one?)
intention is pretty hard to measure but being on a flight that as Ben notes has very little natural traffic flows is a tipoff.
And the point is not as much the passengers but that a European airline is involved in human trafficking which does not have to do with whether people pay for someone to illegally assist them or not. People that are led over the border by coyotes are still trafficked.
It's not. It's smuggling if you sneak them over a border without inspection. It's trafficking if you take their passports and deliver them to people who exploit them. But in the charged world of political polarity, all this is pointless nuance.
Of course it's not. Taking people who want to go to Nicaragua to Nicaragua isn't human trafficking, nor is it illegal. However, the whole theory about this being wannabe immigrants to the US is just Ben's speculation, which I assume is wrong (because then it wouldn't be human trafficking). Authorities never mentioned anything in this effect. Given that the flight originated in Dubai we can assume this is a case of forced labour.
It may "get ugly" at that point, but French authorities can't deny anyone (let alone third country citizens) to travel to Nicaragua just because of some speculation of what those people do afterwards. Such travel is not illegal, and there's no legal basis to deny exit to such passengers. And that's before we even ask the question of why on earth would French police care about people who want to immigrante into the US.
I just flew from Laredo to Houston and the flight was predominantly migrants. I spoke with the Border Patrol and they readily admitted they are overwhelmed and the cartels are sending groups as sacrificial lambs as this ties up the officers and then they can send their drugs across unimpeded.
All of these Indians were being trafficked - no one crosses into the US without paying a "toll" to the cartels. The price is also dependent on their nationality. Mexicans pay the least.
It is possible Nicaragua gets a cut but it is more likely Ortega permits the flights simply to piss off the US
The Biden administration is complacent on both human and drug trafficking.
Tickets from Havana to Managua are openly sold in Miami. currently they are at 2000 dollars , every one knowing that no body returns to havana so virtually it is one way fare. it had gone up to over 3500 dollars during the 2022 rush of 300 000 cubans to the border. you can also buy havana to georgetown in guyana for about 1600 and many times it is a return trip as they go to either meet relatives from Miami or finalize their visas for USA.
Cubans can enter Nicaragua without a visa but connecting flights from Havana to Managua will not take Cuban citizens such as Copa airlines , so the need for charter flights . Australia has drastic measures and thus has been able to protect the borders. It is so tragic to see the sub saharan would be migrants trying to eke out a living in unwelcome countries such as Tunisia or welcome countries like Morocco. Even slightly better off countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore suffer from illegal migration. France just passed a tough anti immigration measures but it is not going to stop illegal migration to France from the Maghreb and the Sahel
These people are all heading to Nicaragua for one thing: crossing the southern border illegally. Arizona and Texas is now swarmed with illegals at the moment, to the point that they are facilitated by Border Patrol to enter America without a visa.
Yes, Sean often has very insightful views, especially regarding aviation in Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. That said, and this is not meant as a jab, he also has his biases... I notice he often defends certain governments and jurisdictions like a post on Ethiopian Airlines a while back (not as bad as our in-house Delta fanboy). I'd like to read his blog nonetheless or at least he should make some contributions now and then
It is trafficking. There are Pakistanis and Indians who travel to Africa and then attempt to fly to Central America. Many Pakistanis in Libya attempting the the same.
Why do your think they are flying from the UAE to Nicaragua one way ?? A holiday ? What purpose would a group of Indians be flying to Managua for ?
"The Biden administration is complacent on both human and drug trafficking."
This might be a true statement if the Biden Administration could actually DO SOMETHING about the border mess, but it cannot: CONGRESS, which is controlled by Republicans, needs to write and pass legislation to reform immigration policy. But they won't because it looks better for them for people like you to see what's happening and blame the Biden Administration - they are relying on folks not knowing how immigration policy works to blame Biden, rather than Congress.
The American People had the opportunity to "decide for themselves" and to elect a Congress who could make the necessary changes the border crisis requires, since it is the American House of Representatives that needs to write and pass comprehensive immigration reform and policy - the Senate, the Executive, and the Judiciary cannot do this. And what have those who have been elected in the majority of the House done for the last 1.5 years? They've passed less legislation than any other Congress in history while wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on their bulls&^% scheme to "impeach" Biden, rather than passing bills to hire more immigration judges, border control agents, and immigration law staffers; rather than passing legislation to better secure ports of entry; rather than investing in diplomatic, legal, and economic reforms with partner nations in Central and South America that would make those countries places people do not want or need to leave.
More interesting - website shows it still has the AB config, with biz and premium economy. Who gets those seats? re their cash buyups? How's the catering?
Your not kidding, I can’t even drive down the highway it’s so full of illegal aliens.
You don't pass through Panama to reach the United States from Nicaragua. Panama is south of Nicaragua.
Except european immigrants actually came here legally. You can’t seriously think this ends well for America, do you? The only reason it continues is because Brandon’s cronies in big business need cheap, brown skinned labor and they dont want to make it look like Trump was right by closing the
Border
Bro, you can’t seriously think Biden or the executive branch can’t do anything about this. Most of the republicans in Congress are lame and are probably in on it too, but c’mon. This is publicized and encouraged Democrat policy 100%.
@ Eric absolutely on their own accord to freely enter the US illegally as the new normal with the current administration. All my former employees from Venezuela are now in the US, and most of them entered via the Southern Border.
I do not have a blog. I do write a quarterly column on African aviation for VoyagesAfriq magazine though. I also am on the monthly Aviadev Africa Connectivity Insight podcast with Jon Howell, and periodically do guest work for TV, radio and print media ranging from the BBC to Dubai One to Voice of America when African aviation topics come up.
As for "biases", I have never shyed away from having opinions and voicing them. It's gotten me "banned" from a few places, but I wear that more as a badge of honour than a deterrent. I'll happily engage with anyone who would like to debate the facts, but I'm not into political rhetoric on either side of most issues.
I highly doubt that's the case. Those people are traveling voluntarily, therefore there would be zero reason (or legal basis) for French authorities to stop that flight. The fact that they not only stopped the flight, but keep in on the ground hours later suggests that the human trafficking information was correct, and thus it's unlikely that the US would be the intended destination.
@rrapynot - There are numerous unaccompanied minors on board who have been shipped off by their parents under the false impression that they get automatic citizenship once they set foot in the USA if unaccompanied and can then bring their parents over immediately as well. This kind of bogus information proliferates on WhatsApp and Facebook groups and fuels this kind of trafficking. And yes, paying someone to transport your child halfway across the world alone is trafficking.
@Eric - of course they are trying to enter the USA. This trend of using Nicaragua primarily but also other Central American countries as a launching pad for travel to the US is the biggest migration trend of 2023 but has received minimal attention. India is a sizeable source market of course, but this trend is much more prevalent in West & Central Africa where some markets are seeing 6000-10000% increases over past year volumes. Social media is deluged with advertisements for these trips "guaranteeing" refugee status in the USA or Canada and thousands of dollars a month in employment earnings.
Also, heading somewhere "on their own accord" and "being trafficked" are not mutually exclusive. These are not binary situations and the reality almost always lies somewhere inbetween, but closer to the trafficking end of the spectrum than the voluntary. Once you get into debt with the organisers of these expeditions, your participation no longer remains entirely voluntary and your ability to buy your exit decreases significantly.
Apparently some of the passengers request asylum in France, so there you go. Commercial airlines try to deny boarding at the point of departure to bogus travellers based on the conditions of carriage and reasons for travel our doubtful. Many can’t respond to questions asked or have learned what to say by traffickers.
The reason European carriers what to refused boarding is that once they arrive in Europe they may try to claim asylum there and refuse to continue on the connecting flight.
The US authorities are also aware of a number of traffickers including travel agents who facilitate this, and work with airlines to prevent it.
There are many Indians purporting to be students based in east Africa with trips planned to Colombia or Panama.
without even getting political, tell me you don't understand how government in the US works without telling me you don't know how the US governmental system works.
It takes control of 3 parts of the government to make and enact laws or 2 if you if you have enough votes.
This is really interesting to me because of my recent firsthand experience which was shocking, and which was something I don't think most people in the US are aware is going on. I was flying Buenos Aires to the US via Colombia and then El Salvador. A few weeks prior I received an email from Avianca about the new airport tax in El Salvador and I had no clue what it was about and why it was limited to people from India and Africa, so I did a little research and learned that people around the world are flying to Central American countries and walking across the southern border. It's all well and good to read about that in theory, but when it was actually time to take the flight from Colombia to El Salvador it was clearly 90% migrants (not to stereotype, but I've traveled enough to distinguish between someone who has traveled before and an adult who has clearly never been on a plane and is wearing documents in a laminated holder around their neck). It made me feel uncomfortable because whose passports were these people traveling on? What are the implications for the security of the flight that I was on? Let alone the implications for the United States of hundreds, thousands of people doing this every single day?
I cannot emphasize enough that I travel, read, stay up on current events and world news, and I had no clue this was going on and to this extent. As I said, I was shocked. And let's not mince words, this is human trafficking. These people will be in debt to the traffickers their whole lives. I have no problem with immigration in general; my partner's family are immigrants and immigration has made this country what it is. However, what is going on at the southern border right now should be considered unacceptable and a national emergency.
There are measures/laws in place but the current Joe admin chooses to ignore them and allow anyone into our country!! No Vetting No nothing just bring them in... thanks Joe!!
The smugglers being paid by the migrants ARE human traffickers. Not sure what’s hard to understand here. The flight was chartered by a human trafficking organization. The unaccompanied minors were put on the plane by their families. I promise you, Nicaragua is no destination whatsoever for Indians.
An update: the aircraft and passengers are returning to Mumbai, India.
It’s a clear case of trafficking.
While the French authorities seem to have done a good job in this case, calling the airport „Paris-Vatry“ is also borderline to a crime … The airport‘s official name is Chalons-Vatry, it‘s just called Paris-Vatry for marketing purposes. It is 150km/90mi east of Paris. If you ever land at XCR, you first need to take a taxi, then a bus which runs once per hour and finally a train which runs every 2 to 3 hours to Paris … The only airline operating there is (no surprise) Ryanair.
The aircraft and passengers never departed from Mumbai or elsewhere in India, so therefore the term "returning" is inaccurate.
They were returned to Fujairah in the UAE, from whence they came. The UAE authorities will then likely deport them back to India.
“European immigrants came here legally.” Except there were no laws. My ancestors, some of whom were on the Mayflower, just got on the boat. Likewise my Irish ancestors who came during the potato famine. Immigration was not regulated by law until the 1880’s when they passed the Chinese Exclusion Act and other laws.
From what I have read 26 claimed asylum and were transferred to a centre near CDG, and the remaining 276, including unaccompanied minors and an infant, all flew to Mumbai. They did not terminate in the UAE.
In their defense, the Legend Airways lawyer liliana bakayoko claims they had paid for a tourist trip to Nicaragua lol especially the UMs. I think she should look for a new job.
If you don’t think that their final destination is the US southern border you may actually be an imbecile.
@Jerry, if you didn’t know this, then hopefully now you would - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/alabama-law-drives-out-illegal-immigrants-but-also-has-unexpected-consequences/2012/06/17/gJQA3Rm0jV_story.html
Poor whites and blacks don’t want to work as produce picker, roofer, poultry/dairy worker, landscaper etc m. None of the hardlabor jobs that requires one to work in extreme heat/cold. This has been true for years and is still true.
the aircraft - YR-LRE - is back in in FJR (UAE) ready to start the process all over again.
Let's see if they skip the refueling stop in Europe this time.
In a perfect world migrants would be able to just fly to the US directly and get a work permit/temporary residency/request asylum on arrival while they wait on their green card. At least then they're documented. In reality, our immigration services are so underfunded that even asylum seekers won't see a court to state their case for a decade, and the wait those immigrating for work or family can vary from 5-20+ years depending on nationality. So they walk in illegally instead, since that's preferable to spending a decade of their life waiting in poverty in their home country.
Btw, GOP loves to screech about it but they don't want to actually stop the immigration pipeline, and never have. Else they'd go after all the employers in the agriculture, meatpacking, and construction industries that employ large numbers of illegal immigrants. That's a large part of their voter base though, so it'd be counterproductive for them when they can just keep the status quo and blame it all on the Democratic party.
What type of scrutiny will the Fujairah Airport face? I remember a story from a few years ago when two UK citizens were arrested and jailed for 'plane watching' at the Fujairah Airport...
The EQP flew 30 crew including 15 deadhead FJR/PAR for the PAR/MGA leg. They would occupy the JCLR cabin in and out. My guess is as they usually refuel at CDG, somehow the tipoff diverted them to XCR and this is how they dealt with it. Being on migrant flights from Nepal to Malaysia, the rest of the seats (UGSA) is a lottery as there was a premium cabin as well. I would be interested to know the nationality of the crew!
The last major scandal at Fujairah (fake Chadian registered IL-18s ferrying all sorts of sanctions busting stuff into Iran for the IRG) led to a bunch of expats being made the scapegoats and the real people behind it going scot free. So I don't expect much to change beyond rearranging the deck chairs.
It's not entirely US destined traffic. A bunch are destined to Canada using genuine Mexican travel documents that resemble them (no visa needed for Mexicans into Canada) where they then claim asylum there. A few hundred a month do this, primarily of Punjabi origin since Canada accepts pretty much every Punjabi asylum claim.
The UAE refused to take them back so did Nicaragua even though the media said they had return fares and hotel rooms booked. The 276 passengers had Indian passports and were sent back to India. The remaining 25 asked for asylum and 2 are being held for having multiple passports.
More than 2 million people came in through the Southern border in one year. Of those more than a 1000 Chinese came in. I cannot understand why so many people are being let into the US. We need to close the border. US cities are being overrun by migrants and now they are committing crimes. All these people should be sent right back and in the first place not let them in. I also read that after this Hamas issue with Israel, it is reported that 17 terrorists were caught trying to enter the Southern border.
You are wrong. These are people whose agents are part of the mafia in India. It is a huge business, multi billion dollar business. They pay over a 100,000 dollars to $130,000 to the cayote to make this trip for each person, so you can imagine the amount of money made here. In this case, I think the agents and their mafia outfit have brought these people to UAE from India. They did come volantarily but with the intent of entering the USA.
In a Nicaraguan online paper there was an article saying that Legend Airlines had 2 flights land in Nicaragua with African passengers on Dec 9th. Once came via Valtry, Paris and another one via Germany. So the airlines is aware of what kind of passengers they are transporting.