In the latest case of modern slavery at sea, eight Syrians have been saved from working under exploitative labour conditions after a supposed livestock carrier was raided in Spain’s Port of Cartagena.
The Elita, sailing under the flag of Guyana in South America, is said to have been assisting a human trafficking cartel for months at the time Spanish police force members boarded the vessel on Saturday.
Guardia Civil officers found fake immigration documents and passports on the detained vessel and arrested its captain on suspicion of belonging to a criminal organisation.
Knowledge of the vessel’s use for human trafficking purposes, whilst sailing under the guise of transporting livestock, had apparently been known for months, but authorities battled to track the ship as it kept changing its name.
It was the third time the ‘Elita’ had sailed under a new name when it arrived from Libya in Spain earlier this month.
A Guardia Civil investigation established that the ‘crew’ of the ship had been lured into their positions with promises of training to fulfil maritime tasks, only to find themselves subjected to forced labour conditions.
Ukrainian shipping site Maritime Bulletin reported: “Guardia Civil were alerted to the possible use of a merchant ship by a transnational criminal organisation to carry out people trafficking. This was being carried out under the guise of a merchant vessel transporting cattle.
“The organisation’s modus operandi was to recruit citizens of Syrian origin and people from other conflict zones, who were offered their transfer to Europe for as much as €13 000.
“To do this, they had acquired a cattle ship, under the flag of a third country, which was found to have had its name changed three times, making it difficult for the different police forces to track and monitor their movements.”
Saturday’s raid comes in the same month as research findings were made public by the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (Modern Slavery PEC) in the UK – findings that revealed how forced labour victims were used by unscrupulous supply chain interests across the world.
On November 16, at which time the Elita had already been detained on suspicion of human trafficking, Modern Slavery PEC reported that “comprehensive evidence points to increased vulnerability of workers to forced labour in global supply chains during the Covid-19 pandemic”.