This would be funny if it weren’t so serious. The Times of Malta reported yesterday that a Somali has been sentenced to four years in prison for bringing boatloads of illegal aliens from Libya to the island nation of Malta (for a handsome profit of course). But, here is the hitch and the funny part. He was turned in by a “client” for cheating the client (the illegal alien) because he didn’t get the illegal alien to the illegal alien’s hoped-for destination.
So did he go to jail for trafficking or lying to his “client?” And, can the illegal alien “client” now stay in Malta or will authorities and the US Ambassador to Malta move the guy on to a town near you as the Ambassador and the US State Department have done with hundreds of other Somalis who have managed to get to Malta over the last few years!
From The Times of Malta:
A man found guilty of organising boat trips to get illegal immigrants from Libya to Europe was this morning jailed for four years and six months and fined €270.
Mohamed Muhudiin Dhiblaawe had been reported to the police by Somali Omar Hasan Nour in March 2009, who ended in Malta after paying Mr Dhiblaawe $900 for the trip.
Mr Nour reported Mr Dhiblaawe to the police because he felt robbed as he did not intend his destination to be Malta.
Following investigations, the police found that the accused transported people from Libya to Europe because of the massive profits involved. The accused had spoken to Mr Nour and others in Libya and offered to help them travel to Europe for the equivalent of €600 each.
The accused had promised to make all the necessary arrangements and gave the Somalis all the necessary instructions for the escape.
For more of this sort of humor, check out my post on Malta in January to see how one Somali traveler through Malta got sent to the US and is complaining about it! The post also has some links on our precedent-setting arrangement to scoop up illegal aliens in Malta and transform them into refugees for resettlement in your neighborhood. This practice has been going on since at least 2007 when I started to follow the issue during the Bush Administration. Bush started it, and Obama continues it.