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> Sneaking in spies as refugees is a fairly common strategy. Is it really? Are there any examples we can point to? Refugees are often dispossessed and struggl

> Sneaking in spies as refugees is a fairly common strategy. Is it really? Are there any examples we can point to? Refugees are often dispossessed and struggling to build a new life. I guess if you want your spies to gather intelligence on what it's like to drive a cab or bus tables in your geopolitical adversaries, then it might be a great cover identity.

sakjur 3y ago
I’d absolutely plant cab drivers to spy on my geopolitical adversaries. People who have a plausible explanation to be in and around hotels, airports, industrial areas, and a legitimate reason talk to lots of different people would seem like quite good candidates for spying. Maybe a bit too obvious.
- psychphysic 3y ago
  They'd pick up absolute junk information.
  - Simon_O_Rourke 3y ago
    Absolutely, the amount of yarns I regularly spin to taxi drivers would bankrupt the credulous. My usual one being advice to invest heavily in manganese futures.
  - newsclues 3y ago
    99% would be. But 1% might be something useful.
- baybal2 3y ago
  Countries indeed used cab drivers as spies, ie USSR
  - fooker 3y ago
    They absolutely did, even Russia does so. https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/crime/18.08.2023-suspected-taxi-driving-russian-spy-detained-by-latvian-security-service.a520678/ https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/crime/18.08.2023-suspecte...
- foldr 3y ago
  Fine, but why bother sneaking them in as refugees when you could just bribe any number of cab drivers already in the vicinity?
mannykannot 3y ago
Klaus Fuchs may not have been committed to spying when he arrived in Britain, but his case is close enough to show that spy infiltration under the guise of being a refugee is not out of the question (I believe there were even cases of precisely this in West Germany, but I don't recall a specific case offhand.) Given the legal channels for immigration into the USA, having a technically-skilled spy infiltrate as a refugee may not make much sense, but that's a different argument. Furthermore, the arguments against infiltrating that way are based on the uncertainty of it succeeding and length of time it takes, not the false assumption that refugees are condemned to working in low-skill occupations.
fooker 3y ago
I'm not sure if you have tried to find examples, but here you go. https://theprint.in/defence/china-luring-tibetan-refugees-india-to-spy-intelligence-bureau-warns/26613/ https://theprint.in/defence/china-luring-tibetan-refugees-in... https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/tibetan-refugee-who-turned-spy-china-sweden https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/tibetan-refugee-who-t... https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/2/26/are-eritrea-government-spies-posing-as-refugee-interpreters https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/2/26/are-eritrea-gov... https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/22/archives/refugee-held-as-spy-in-oslo.html https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/22/archives/refugee-held-as-... https://www.tibetanjournal.com/india-arrests-suspected-chinese-spy-from-tibetan-refugee-camp/ https://www.tibetanjournal.com/india-arrests-suspected-chine... https://apnews.com/article/travel-sports-crime-figure-skating-beijing-3cd135005bb769b507199012cd5a0d22 https://apnews.com/article/travel-sports-crime-figure-skatin... https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/544604/Description https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/544604/Description https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11611165/Chinese-spy-Liqiang-Wang-loses-visa-appeal.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11611165/Chinese-sp... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/us-government-turned-away-thousands-jewish-refugees-fearing-they-were-nazi-spies-180957324/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/us-government-turned-... https://www.reuters.com/world/aid-workers-face-trial-greece-spying-after-refugee-rescues-2021-11-15/ https://www.reuters.com/world/aid-workers-face-trial-greece-...

sakjur 3y ago

I’d absolutely plant cab drivers to spy on my geopolitical adversaries. People who have a plausible explanation to be in and around hotels, airports, industrial areas, and a legitimate reason talk to lots of different people would seem like quite good candidates for spying. Maybe a bit too obvious.

psychphysic 3y ago
They'd pick up absolute junk information.
- Simon_O_Rourke 3y ago
  Absolutely, the amount of yarns I regularly spin to taxi drivers would bankrupt the credulous. My usual one being advice to invest heavily in manganese futures.
- newsclues 3y ago
  99% would be. But 1% might be something useful.
baybal2 3y ago
Countries indeed used cab drivers as spies, ie USSR
- fooker 3y ago
  They absolutely did, even Russia does so. https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/crime/18.08.2023-suspected-taxi-driving-russian-spy-detained-by-latvian-security-service.a520678/ https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/crime/18.08.2023-suspecte...
foldr 3y ago
Fine, but why bother sneaking them in as refugees when you could just bribe any number of cab drivers already in the vicinity?

mannykannot 3y ago

Klaus Fuchs may not have been committed to spying when he arrived in Britain, but his case is close enough to show that spy infiltration under the guise of being a refugee is not out of the question (I believe there were even cases of precisely this in West Germany, but I don't recall a specific case offhand.) Given the legal channels for immigration into the USA, having a technically-skilled spy infiltrate as a refugee may not make much sense, but that's a different argument. Furthermore, the arguments against infiltrating that way are based on the uncertainty of it succeeding and length of time it takes, not the false assumption that refugees are condemned to working in low-skill occupations.

fooker 3y ago

I'm not sure if you have tried to find examples, but here you go. https://theprint.in/defence/china-luring-tibetan-refugees-india-to-spy-intelligence-bureau-warns/26613/ https://theprint.in/defence/china-luring-tibetan-refugees-in... https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/tibetan-refugee-who-turned-spy-china-sweden https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/tibetan-refugee-who-t... https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/2/26/are-eritrea-government-spies-posing-as-refugee-interpreters https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/2/26/are-eritrea-gov... https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/22/archives/refugee-held-as-spy-in-oslo.html https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/22/archives/refugee-held-as-... https://www.tibetanjournal.com/india-arrests-suspected-chinese-spy-from-tibetan-refugee-camp/ https://www.tibetanjournal.com/india-arrests-suspected-chine... https://apnews.com/article/travel-sports-crime-figure-skating-beijing-3cd135005bb769b507199012cd5a0d22 https://apnews.com/article/travel-sports-crime-figure-skatin... https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/544604/Description https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/544604/Description https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11611165/Chinese-spy-Liqiang-Wang-loses-visa-appeal.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11611165/Chinese-sp... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/us-government-turned-away-thousands-jewish-refugees-fearing-they-were-nazi-spies-180957324/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/us-government-turned-... https://www.reuters.com/world/aid-workers-face-trial-greece-spying-after-refugee-rescues-2021-11-15/ https://www.reuters.com/world/aid-workers-face-trial-greece-...