SW News: The Holy See has warned that about unregulated cryptocurrency and its role in the smuggling of migrants. Regional Coordinator at the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development Yuriy Tykhovlis made this statement on Thursday on behalf of Msgr. Janusz Urbanczyk, the Vatican representative to UN agencies in Vienna, while addressing a working group on the smuggling of migrants. The event was organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Addressing the working group, Tykhovlis warned that the use of cash to avoid transparency “has shifted into the even less transparent world of digital payment and cryptocurrencies.” He said that “While some online platforms require their senders and beneficiaries of remittances to identify themselves, some cryptocurrency platforms and virtual asset service providers do not request identification from their customers.”

This increases opportunities for money laundering and similar crimes explained Tykhovlis. He also pointed out instances where migrants fall victims to human traffickers who use “social media networks and the so-called ‘surface’ and ‘dark web,” and “Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools” to facilitate recruitment and transportation in the smuggling of migrants.

In the October 14 statement, the Holy See also called government and non-governmental organizations to take necessary actions in promoting and developing secure technological solutions and measures to increase the transparency of virtual assets.