Number of fake passports, residency permits caught at Dutch borders at 5 year high

Some 1,710 false pieces of identification, including passports and residency documents, were caught at Dutch borders last year, according to the Marechaussee. The military branch said it was the highest total number of fraudulent documents found in five years.

The largest group of people caught attempting to commit identity fraud at the border were Syrians, followed by people from Turkey, India, Iran and Iraq. Most cases of fraud was discovered at Dutch airports, especially Schiphol Airport. Attempts at fraud most often involved Greek documents, followed by documents from Italy, India, France and Bulgaria.

The incidents include cases of identity fraud involving someone from one country using the passport of someone from another country. Other cases involved someone presenting a forged residency permit in addition to his or her own passport to enter the Netherlands.

The Marechaussee mainly intercepted passports that were used for fraud, but also registered an increase in fraud involving residence documents. The military branch is responsible for policing Dutch borders.

The increase in the number of fraud cases is “difficult to explain,” said a spokesperson for the Marechaussee. “On the one hand, it may be that detection has improved, but it is also related to migration and refugee flows.”

As more people travel to the Netherlands, the number of fraudulent documents also increases, he explained. “It remains extremely lucrative for people smugglers. Migrants sometimes pay thousands of euros for such a document.”