tiré de Eric Ambler "The mask of Dimitrios" : situation reconnaissable aujourd'hui

« ‘I have never liked the business. It is impossible to treat human beings as one would treat ordinary inanimate merchandise. There is always trouble. There is always the possibility, too, that in an isolated case the adjective “white” might have a religious instead of a merely racial application. From my experience, I should say that the possibility is remote, but there it is. I may be illogical and sentimental, but I should not care to be associated with anything like that. Besides, the overhead expenses of a trafficker in what is considered a fair way of business are enormous. There are always false birth, marriage and death certificates to be obtained and travelling expenses and bribes to pay, quite apart from the cost of maintaining several identities. You have no idea of the cost of forged documents, Mr Latimer. There used to be three recognized sources of supply: one in Zürich, one in Amsterdam and one in Brussels. All neutrals! Odd, isn’t it? You used to be able to get a false-real Danish passport – that is, a real Danish passport treated chemically to remove the original entries and photograph and then filled in with new ones – for, let me see, about two thousand francs at the present rate of exchange. A real-false – manufactured from start to finish by the agent – would have cost you a little less, say fifteen hundred. Nowadays you would have to pay twice as much. Most of the business is done here in Paris now. It is the refugees, of course. The point is that a trafficker needs plenty of capital. If he is known there are always plenty of people willing to provide it, but they expect fantastic dividends. It is better to have one’s own capital. » (de « The Mask of Dimitrios (Penguin Modern Classics) (English Edition) » par Eric Ambler, Mark Mazower)