Golden Opportunity: Economic Migrants Are Posing as Syrian Refugees to Enter Europe
As thousands of refugees stream into Europe, many economic migrants are disguising themselves as Syrians in hopes of gaining residency in Europe.
Lined before a ticket window in Vienna Westbahnhof train station, a group of men stand waiting for passage to Germany.
"We are from Syria," they say when prompted by a reporter, according to the Washington Post. "We are Algerians," they then admit, laughing nervously.
Their story is not a{s} unique. As Europe opens its borders to refugees from war-torn Syria, Iraq, and Eritrea, others have taken the opportunity to make their way into the West.
"I am illegal, not refugee," Hamza, one of the Algerian men, told the Washington Post. "In my country, the only thing you can do there is either drugs or crimes. So I was in prison several times, for drugs, also for trying to kill another guy."
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"There are people who are trying to benefit from the situation," Hisham Fares, an Austrian aid worker, told the Post. "I’ve met Egyptians who claimed they were Syrians, but the dialect is Egyptian. I’ve also met people from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, or Libya who all now flying to Istanbul and then go to Izmir where they destroy their passports."
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