Image
- Credit:
Prime Minister Mark Rutte / Wikipedia
Wednesday, 16 September 2015 - 12:59
Journalist orders fake Syrian passport for Dutch PM Mark Rutte
Journalist Harald Doornbos managed to get his hands on a genuine Syrian passport displaying a photo of Prime Minister Mark Rutte. All it took was one phone call and a 40 hour wait. "All you need is the telephone number of one of the many passport forgers and converted 750 euros."
Since the outbreak of the Syrian war, thousands of blank passports and the Assad regime's printers have ended up in the hands of Sunni insurgents, according to Revu. These insurgents will sell passports showing any photo given to them to anyone willing to pay.
Doornbos describes the consequences as terrifying as it will be even more difficult for security services to detect terrorist if getting hold of a fake identity is this easy. Doornbos describes the route a terrorist will take, according to his sources:
"From an ISIS or al-Qaeda area in northern Syria a returning foreign terrorist fighter will travel to Bodrum in western Turkey. From there he makes the illegal crossing to Greece. In Greece he shows his false Syrian passport to the authorities. Since the fake passport gives a fake name, the Greeks have no idea that they are not dealing with a Syrian refugee but a member of ISIS or al-Qaeda. From Greece the journey goes through Macedonia and Serbia to Hungary. After arriving in Schengen member Hungary, the jihadist can travel with his false Syrian passport through all the other Schengen states without any further checks."
https://twitter.com/HaraldDoornbos/status/644056427716345856