Oversized and dangerous inflatable dinghies are being made-to-order in Turkey to ship huge numbers of illegal immigrants across the English Channel, The Epoch Times has found.
Unscrupulous Turkish traders are targeting the people smuggling market and cashing in on the migrant crisis, even brazenly advertising the unsafe air-inflated boats for sale online.
An investigation by The Epoch Times reveals how one legitimate PVC business, based in Istanbul, offers a bespoke service to smugglers wanting to pack as many migrants as possible onto the floating death traps.
For 4,000 euros (£3,400), the company—whose main business is making windows and doors—will manufacture a 15-metre boat with a wooden floor, and have it exported to France within seven days.
The well-known business, which also has offices in Egypt, posts videos and pictures to Facebook of the huge dinghies being made in its workshop.
One recent social media advertisement posted to an English-speaking export group, included an image of a newly made boat which it said can include “aluminum floors or wooden floors or with inflatable deck or even without.”
The company said it could provide “all boat accessories” originally made in Turkey, China, or Canada. The post included the company’s web address, email contact, and a WhatsApp business number for further enquiries.
Our reporter made contact with the PVC firm, posing as smuggler wanting to buy one of the huge dinghies with the sole intention of using it to traffic migrants from France to the UK.
Within minutes of sending a message to the firm’s WhatsApp account, a sales agent replied.
Unsafe
When asked about the maximum size of inflatable boat it could manufacture, the agent said the company made dinghies up to 10 metres long.
This, according to to the employee, could “safely” carry up to 20 people.
When told that a bigger boat was required to fit up to 50 people—around the average number of migrants being crammed per boat in Channel crossings this year—the sales agent replied, “You need a 15 meter boat with wooden floor.”
