British Yacht Captain Faces 10-Year Sentence for Smuggling 

A British yacht captain was convicted in a Greek court today on charges of immigrant smuggling. He was sentenced to ten years in prison and was also fined 433,978 euros. 

The captain, Michael James Wood, 45, was found guilty of smuggling 72 Iraqi and Syrian illegal immigrants from Turkey to Greece. Wood appealed his sentence, but no court date was set. 

The immigrants had told authorities that they had paid more than $2,000 each to be transported to Greece. 

Thousands of people from Asia, eastern Europe and the Middle East cross illegally into Greece every year aboard sailing or fishing boats. 

******** 

First-ever Wave of Immigrants Boosts Irish Population 

New census figures show Ireland's population has climbed to its highest level in modern history, reflecting the country's long economic boom and first-ever wave of immigration. 

Initial figures from the April 28 count in the Republic of Ireland, which excludes British Northern Ireland, listed 3,917,336 residents, up about 8.2 percent since 1996. 

******** 

UN Report Condemns Western Officials For “Colluding With People Traffickers” 

A report commissioned by the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says human trafficking in southeastern Europe is worsening, despite campaigns to stop it, due to corrupt Western officials who have become cronies of Balkan pimps and are having sex with the prostitutes they are supposed to rescue. 

Elements of local and international police forces have become corrupted by criminal gangs who earn billions trading women and children. 

"The international market for sex services as well as local demand has expanded, particularly in countries where there is a large international presence," the report says. 

The report says there are some who follow a life of prostitution for economic reasons, but that there is also a separate category of women and children who have become slaves and should be treated as victims of crime, not as illegal immigrants.