The Holy See’s focus on digital payments and migrant smuggling
In a statement, the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the International Organizations in Vienna, emphasizes the risk that the increasingly widespread use of Blockchain platforms and cryptocurrencies incentivize migratory flows to Europe with false promises. The note on the occasion of the UNODC Working Group, the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, meeting today on the issue of migrant smuggling
News from the Vatican
The role that digital payments made through Blockchain platforms and the unregulated use of cryptocurrencies play with regard to migrant smuggling: it is on this issue that the Permanent Mission of the Holy See intervened by addressing a statement to the president of the UNODC Working Group on trafficking of migrants gathered today in Vienna.
“While some online platforms – the text reads – oblige their customers (senders and recipients of remittances) to identify themselves, some cryptocurrency platforms and virtual goods service providers do not have the identification of their customers”. And this, it is noted, only increases “the opportunities for money laundering and similar crimes”.
The criminal chains that use the web
Many migrants along the Balkan route, the statement continues, “accept the promises of smugglers on the internet and often fall victim to criminal trafficking chains”. She notes that social media and the web, both on the surface and the dark web, are information and communication technologies (ICT) tools widely used “to facilitate the recruitment and transport of migrants” to countries Europeans, who then face situations of exploitation. In the face of a technology used for evil purposes, however, there are also different technological tools, from the police forces, civil society and religious organizations, “which allows people to acquire knowledge on the risks of smuggling and provides means by which reports possible cases “.
Proposals for a more informed use of internet services
The Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the International Organizations in Vienna therefore puts forward some proposals such as “the development of safe solutions”, the introduction of “mechanisms for identifying virtual assets in order to increase transparency and combat illegal actions at of these services ”, the promotion of“ smuggling prevention campaigns and initiatives to stop the smuggling of migrants and to make migration safer, more orderly and regular ”. Finally, the text underlines the aspect of education in the correct use of virtual goods, suggesting the launch of “awareness campaigns and specific training programs, both at the international and international level, to combat the prevention of national smuggling and the protection migrants, especially those in difficulty “.