Human traffickers advertise on Facebook

But a closer look at advice for passengers – which bans luggage and women’s headscarves – reveals they are not really selling jaunts to London, Paris and Greece.

In fact they are among a growing number of Facebook pages which offer to smuggle desperate Syrians and Iraqis to mainland Europe for thousands of pounds.

The traffickers are seeking to cash in on the thousands of middle-class families who are willing to risk their life savings on the promise of a ‘safe’ passage.

But behind the promises of a new life, illustrated with pictures of the House of Parliament or the Eiffel Tower, lies the grim reality of people smuggling in 2015.

Thousands have died crossing the Mediterranean in unseaworthy craft this year, meaning the traffickers are now playing on families’ fears by offering expensive package deals which come with ‘100 per cent’ safety guarantees. One Facebook page, titled ‘Safe Journey from Turkey to Greece’, tells its would-be clients they will board a 130ft yacht in the Turkish port of Izmir. It carries a picture of the gleaming white Orient Bosphorus, its upper deck strung with fairy lights.

Passengers pay a hefty £2,500 per ticket but are told it is ‘forbidden’ to bring any luggage or to wear headscarves because they must look like Western tourists.

The men behind the Facebook page, who do not give their names, insist their boats are ‘100 per cent safe’ and suggest their customers carry digital cameras and laptops to help them look like tourists and evade capture.

For those who do not want to risk a sea crossing, the site also offered a two-day route to Austria via lorry for £5,500 per person.

In reality, both routes could be deadly, as shown by the grim discovery of 71 migrants’ bodies in a lorry in Austria this week.

And in fact the ‘safe’ five-star yacht pictured on the site is also an illusion.

When the Daily Mail contacted the operators of the Orient Bosphorus, they said it was used only for romantic river cruises along the Bosphorus in Istanbul, and never went to Izmir, let alone across the Mediterranean.

Once in mainland Europe, many migrants plan to travel north to countries including Germany, Belgium and Sweden.

Meanwhile sites offering advice on how to get to the UK have attracted thousands of members.

One, called Migrating to London, had 10,276 members. Members were warned that the route to Britain had become more difficult. A blog linked to the group suggested migrants should try getting inside lorries parked near Calais, but warned against using those carrying frozen produce.

The motives of those hoping to travel appeared questionable.

At least one member of the ‘Smuggling from Calais to the UK’ group had the black flag of the so-called Islamic State as his profile picture.

For Syrians travelling without valid documents, various shady companies offered passports for sale, with prices starting at £650. Visas for European countries can cost thousands.

(dailymail.co.uk)