Economic migrants FAKE being Syrian to claim EU asylum and head for Britain
ECONOMIC migrants from Pakistan are FAKING being Syrian to claim asylum in the promised land of Europe, discarded documents metres from the Serbian border have revealed.
AP•REUTERS
A huge influx of shameless migrants have lied about their nationality to be sure they have a better chance of crossing the European borders into countries including Britain and Germany.
And passports buried in bushes just metres away from Serbia's border with Hungary provides evidence that migrant's fleeing poverty are dumping their own documents and, instead, posing as refugees fleeing raging war and persecution in Syria as the surest route to asylum.
It comes after Prime Minister David Cameron announced the UK would accept up to 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next five years.
Related articles
AP
Mr Cameron suggested Britain would not be taking refugees currently making their way through the Balkan states or across the Mediterranean to Europe - but people from existing refugee camps in neighbouring countries such such as Turkey and Jordan.
You can see that something is fishy when most of those who cross into Serbia enter January 1 as the date of their birth
Concerns over the regulation of registering migrants at the main entry points into Europe are growing amid the revelation dubious markets selling fake Syrian passports have sprung up across Turkey.
Serbian border police say that around 90 per cent of those arriving from Macedonia, around 3,000 per day, claim they are Syrian - although they have no documents to prove it.
Border police officer Miroslav Jovic said: "You can see that something is fishy when most of those who cross into Serbia enter January 1 as the date of their birth.
"Guess that's the first date that comes to their mind."
The head of Europe's border agency Frontex said that trafficking in fake Syrian passports had increased.
EPA
Fabrice Leggeri called for more guards to help register migrants at the main entry points.
He said: "There are people who are in Turkey now who buy fake Syrian passports because they know Syrians get the right to asylum in all the member states of the European Union.
"People who use fake Syrian passports often speak Arabic. They may come from North Africa or the Middle East but they have the profile of economic migrants."
Mr Leggeri added: "Faced with the influx, registration systems are overwhelmed. We have an idea of nationalities, but not a clear picture of who is entering and the real profile of these migrants."
And Syrian people making the perilous journey through Serbia are also concerned about the worrying trend.
Kamal Saleh said: "Everyone says they are Syrian, even those who are obviously not.
"That is not good for us Syrians because of limited number of people who will get the asylum."