Human TraffickingNews

Sri Lankan citizens caught trying to leave the country illegally

At the Romanian Cenad Border Crossing Point – ITPF Timişoara, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen showed up to leave the country, behind the wheel of a VW Sharan car. He was accompanied by another Romanian citizen, aged 21.

During the inspection, the border police found that a female person was hiding between the seat and the front seats, and in the trunk of the car were four other male foreign citizens, hidden under a pilot.

Following the extension of the investigations, the border police found that the persons in question are from Sri Lanka, aged between 26 and 53, holders of residence documents in Romania.

At the same time, on 06.02.2022 , following an action on the fight against illegal migration, colleagues from the Sânnicolau Mare Border Police Sector also found, 50 m from the border line, near Beba Veche, four other citizens from Sri Lanka who held residence permits in Romania.

Foreign nationals said they tried to leave the country illegally on foot and resort to this method because they wanted to reach a Western European state and did not have a valid Schengen visa.

In both cases, investigations are being carried out under the coordination of the competent prosecutor’s offices in terms of committing the crime of attempting to cross the state border illegally against Sri Lankan citizens, respectively for trafficking in migrants against the two Romanian citizens.