Amid a growing refugee crisis and an influx of asylum seekers, people looking to enter the European Union can now buy fake Syrian passports on social media that increase their chances of obtaining asylum in Europe. There are currently close to 20 million refugees around the world. That's the largest number ever in history. Overwhelmed by the influx of refugees trying to enter Europe, the European Union (EU) has made it very clear that refugees coming to Europe in search of work will not be granted asylum. Only those considered "political refugees" or "war refugees" have a chance of getting their asylum requests approved. Germany, for instance, recently created a list of "safe countries of origin," meaning refugees from these countries aren't viewed as "deserving" of asylum-seeker status as their country of origin is perceived to be safe enough to live in. The list currently includes all EU member states, three Balkan states, plus Ghana and Senegal. Refugees from war-torn countries like Syria, however, are viewed as "political refugees" and receive preferential treatment. That means they have a good chance of being granted asylum. In fact, many EU countries have commited to taking in more Syrian refugees over the coming years. Counterfeit Syrian passports That's why more and more smugglers are now offering fake Syrian passports for sale on social media. They target refugees from the Middle East or North Africa who speak Arabic, are currently economic refugees, but who seek out documents to fool authorities into believing they are Syrian war refugees. One of the easiest ways of obtaining such forged papers is through a Facebook page, called اللجوء الى المانيا, which translates from Arbaic as "asylum in Germany" (see picture above). The Facebook page is most likely located in Turkey, as most of the ads that pop up are for taxis in Istanbul. It's unclear why their cover photo shows an icon of the German Football Association, maybe it's to deter from the content of the page, maybe it's a lack of German skills. Either way, the page, which was created in April 2015 and has almost 11,000 likes, offers tips and tricks for refugees, from telephone numbers of coastal guards in Greece, Turkey, Italy and Malta, to how to best find a wife in Sweden. One of the most staggering posts, however, openly offers fake Syrian documents. The post seems to be directed at Syrians who have already made it to Turkey and who have problems with the regime, which makes it difficult for them to receive their paperwork, such as university papers and passports. But the forged passports can also be bought by non-Syrian citizens. As listed in the post, a forged Bachelor's degree is available for $100 (93 euros), a new passport for $1500. All documents on offer are said to have an official stamp of authenticity by the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the stamps also appear to be fakes. That's also why the Facebook post stresses that none of the documents are archived in Syrian embassies and that the receiver of the forged documents should never show them to official Syrian embassies and only ever use them when crossing into European countries, which, according to the page, won't be able to tell the difference. At the bottom of the post it says to contact a man called Samer if there are any issues. His number is apparently available via Viber and Whatsapp. Tips and tricks for refugees The page also offers tips on how to behave when being interviewed as part of an asylum application. These tips include being strong and confident but not arrogant, being patient and not seemingly nervous, making sure that your story is identical with that of your family members, being accurate in your answers while not answering in too much detail, and last but not least it says: always keep smiling. There's even a map of Germany that lists all the cities and states within Germany that are a bit more lenient when it comes to the implementation of the Dublin Regulations and checking for fingerprints that were taken of refugees upon arrival in Europe. According to the Dublin Regulations, an asylum application has to be processed in the EU country that was a refugee's first point of entry in the EU. According to the map, the German cities of Karlsruhe, Dortmund, Munich, and Bremen are more likely to overlook previous fingerprints. Implications for EU and Syrian refugees The fact that it's so seemingly easy to buy forged Syian passports is not just an issue for the EU and the European border agency Frontex, but also for Syrian refugees themselves. In the worst case, fake Syrian passports will harm their chances of asylum and in the best case it will slow their own applications down as officials have to spend more time figuring out who is a genuine Syrian citizen and who has bought forged papers.
