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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: September 7, 2006 |
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Authorities are investigating several cases of Colombians who either died or apparently disappeared in Israel's Negev desert and may be victims of a human trafficking ring that offers passage to the Middle East.
"We're investigating and we will see how we can help these families. This looks to be human trafficking," the deputy director of Colombia's judicial police, Col. Cesar Pinzon, told The Associated Press.
The bodies of Aurora Restrepo, 55, and Luz Ocampo, 37, arrived by plane in Colombia on Wednesday and were received by tearful relatives. Both women died of dehydration two weeks ago while trying to cross the Negev from Egypt into Israel, where they hoped to settle and find work, authorities said.
Restrepo, a homemaker, departed Colombia a month ago with her son to find work because both were in debt, said a stepson, Jose Sanchez. He said she was hoping to reach Tel Aviv and find a job there.
Four other Colombians appear to have disappeared in the Negev trying to make the same crossing.
"One version on the whereabouts of the missing Colombians is that they're in Israel and haven't sent word of their arrival, while the other, worrisome version is that they became lost in the desert...and died," said Camilo Reyes, Colombia's deputy foreign minister.
The four missing women are from Pereira, a provincial city in Colombia's coffee belt some 110 miles west of Bogota, and range in age from 24 to 30, local media quoted relatives as saying.
The director for Colombia of the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration, Diego Beltrand, told the AP that "we see here a deceit and there's talk of money and other resources being sought from the victims and this adds up to all the elements that we normally see when we speak of human trafficking."
At least 4 million Colombians -- roughly a tenth of the population -- have emigrated abroad in search of a better life, according to the last national census. |
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