French Interior Minister Warns of Islamic State Using Fake Passports Seeks better border controls to keep Islamic State from using authentic-looking Syrian, Iraqi passports By Matthew Dalton
http://www.wsj.com/articles/french-interior-minister-warns-of-islamic-state-using-fake-passports-1452468491
PARIS—Europe needs to beef up its border controls to prevent Islamic State from using authentic-looking Syrian and Iraqi passports to smuggle its operatives into the region amid the mass of refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Sunday.
Mr. Cazeneuve said he plans to discuss the issue with officials in Brussels before European interior ministers meet in Amsterdam later this month.
Mr. Cazeneuve’s remarks are part of a rush by European security authorities to respond to the threat that Islamic State can make Syrian and Iraqi passports that are indistinguishable from the real thing. Officials believe the group has obtained thousands of blank Syrian and Iraqi passports, plus equipment used by those governments to print the documents. Mr. Cazeneuve said several of the Islamic State operatives who killed 130 in the Paris attacks on Nov. 13 used false passports to slip into Europe undetected.
“It’s a central question,” he said in an interview with French media. “It’s a phenomenon that will continue if we are not able to halt it.”
Officials say Islamic State likely obtained those materials when it overran the cities of Raqqa and Deir Ezzour in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. Without reliable lines of communication open, particularly to the Syrian government, Western officials have little clarity on what passport numbers are linked to stolen passport books containing fraudulent identities.
Mr. Cazeneuve suggested bolstering the power of Frontex, the EU’s border agency, and establishing a task force with Europol, Europe’s police coordinating agency, that would have expertise in detecting fake documents.
“There have to be real controls at European Union borders,” Mr. Cazeneuve said. “That doesn’t exist yet.”
Comments are closed.
