European Knight
03-26-2015, 11:17 AM
FROM ABIDJAN TO ATHENS
"Never in my life was I even on a boat," says Jean Paul Apetey, a 34-year-old Ivorian with a reputation as a sharp-witted opportunist. And so, when smugglers ask him if he wants to pilot the vessel to Greece in exchange for a free ticket, he goes straight to the stern engine of the rigid inflatable boat, overloaded with 47 migrants, and acts as if he knows what he is doing.
Smugglers rarely ride on one-way journeys, facing prison if caught. Instead, they charge 1,000 euros ($1,100) or more per passenger, rich compensation for the sacrifice of a boat.
The smugglers point Apetey to a Greek island in the distance — he doesn't know if it's Kos, Samos or Lesbos because he had no map — but boasts of reaching the target in 17 minutes flat. "I have many witnesses," he says proudly.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/9098876e1053482cb3acea38c225fbfa/african-migrants-trek-europe-brings-risk-heartbreak
http://binaryapi.ap.org/9a700c700d1a4bb99dcb15ccd69fd4a2/460x.jpg
"Never in my life was I even on a boat," says Jean Paul Apetey, a 34-year-old Ivorian with a reputation as a sharp-witted opportunist. And so, when smugglers ask him if he wants to pilot the vessel to Greece in exchange for a free ticket, he goes straight to the stern engine of the rigid inflatable boat, overloaded with 47 migrants, and acts as if he knows what he is doing.
Smugglers rarely ride on one-way journeys, facing prison if caught. Instead, they charge 1,000 euros ($1,100) or more per passenger, rich compensation for the sacrifice of a boat.
The smugglers point Apetey to a Greek island in the distance — he doesn't know if it's Kos, Samos or Lesbos because he had no map — but boasts of reaching the target in 17 minutes flat. "I have many witnesses," he says proudly.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/9098876e1053482cb3acea38c225fbfa/african-migrants-trek-europe-brings-risk-heartbreak
http://binaryapi.ap.org/9a700c700d1a4bb99dcb15ccd69fd4a2/460x.jpg