Courtesy of Mish.
Burgeoning Trade in Fake and Stolen Syrian Passports
For those hoping to leave from wherever to EU countries, the passport of choice is Syrian. Preferential treatment Syrians receive in Germany and Sweden has turned Syrian passports into desired, and valuable documents.
And with the increased demand comes passport theft and forgery. In a process known as ghost travel, still others borrow a passport from someone who looks similar, then return the passport after they arrive where they want to be.
EI officials are now concerned over the over the Burgeoning Trade in Fake and Stolen Syrian Passports.
Though most European nations have been slow to welcome more than a few Syrian refugees, the well-known preferential treatment Syrians receive within the German and Swedish asylum system has turned their passports into desired accessories for other immigrants who otherwise would not be likely qualify as refugees.
In Athens, a dealer nicknamed Abu Karem offers all kinds of European passports to Syrians. There are brand new ones printed in Bulgaria that cost a few hundred euros, but are almost worthless. There are also the very expensive stolen passports that come with stamps and get altered with new pictures that cost up to €5,000 (£3,600). Payment depends on whether you arrive. Abu Karem told a recent prospective customer: “I swear to God that I won’t take one euro before you are delivered to the centre of the capital of Austria.”
At the cafe where he does his business, thronged by agitated Syrians, promises and pleads are made, and prices negotiated. Many leave, however, either put off by the price or not convinced by the vague promises of safe delivery.
Germany Could Take 500,000 Refugees a Year
The German vice-chancellor repeated his call for EU countries to take their fair share of refugees, as violence flares between police and refugees on Greek island of Lesbos.
"Germany Could take 500,000 Refugees a Year" for several years said vice-chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel.
“I believe we could surely deal with something in the order of half a million for several years,” he told ZDF public television. “I have no doubt about that, maybe more.” Germany expects to receive 800,000 asylum seekers this year, four times the total for 2014.
As Greece struggled to cope with an influx of refugees – many from war-ravaged Syria – Donald Tusk, the EU president, warned that the refugee “exodus” could last for years. “The wave of migration is not a one-time incident but the beginning of a real exodus, which only means that we will have to deal with this problem for many years to come,” he said.
The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, said Europe must offer guaranteed relocation for Syrian refugees. About 30,000 refugees are on Greek islands, with 20,000 on Lesbos alone, it said. The island has a population of about 85,000.
The vast majority of refugees and migrants in Lesbos have been forced to live out in the open, or at best in tents, with almost no access to running water or public toilets, and conditions have become increasingly squalid.
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