A common approach within the EU, involving various administrations such as the civil registries and consulates, is necessary to tackle the fraud and abuses perpetrated by organised criminal groups through sham marriages.
This is one of the recommendations made by Eurojust, the EU’s Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, in a report adopted Monday 9 November.
The number of requests for Eurojust’s assistance in complex cases involving sham marriages has more than doubled over the last ten years, the agency points out. Last year alone, Eurojust was involved in 185 cases of migrant smuggling, four of which specifically concerned sham marriages. In seven cases, a special joint investigation team was set up with the financial support of Eurojust.
One of the recommendations made in the report is precisely to make use of joint investigation teams more frequently, which Eurojust has found to be an effective means of investigating cases of fake marriages, making it easier to exchange information and share evidence between the national authorities concerned.
The report is to be discussed this week at the Agency’s first meeting of a special group of prosecutors and investigating judges specialising in migrant smuggling cases. It should be published on the Eurojust website in the next few days.
See executive summary: https://bit.ly/3eFtHm1 (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)