A “cottage industry” has reportedly been set up on the opposite Turkish coast to manufacture bogus Syrian passports, given that holders of such documents are finding the prospect of political asylum in Europe easier.

Thousands of …non-Syrians have joined the thousands of actual war refugees seeking to travel from Turkey to northern Europe under the cover of the humanitarian crisis in Syria and northern Iraq.

According to Frontex head Fabrice Leggeri, who spoke to French radio, a burgeoning market has been set up to sell the fake Syrian passports to anyone with enough cash to afford them.

Leggeri said Arab-speakers are the usual “customers” for the Syrian travel documents, regardless of whether they are from North Africa or non-Arab Afghanistan.

Based on recent figures, of the 340,000 third country nationals that reached Europe in an irregular manner in 2015, 88,000 have declared themselves as Syrians.