Alternate Migration Policy Minister Yiannis Mouzalas gave a press conference on Sunday on migration. He addressed the need for more effective controls in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon that need to be carried out so as to have more accurate registration and documentation of refugees.
He refered to the 25-year-old owner of the Syrian passport found on one of the terrorists who caused panic during a massacre in Paris. He said that the identification procedure of the refugee, who crossed from Turkey to the border island of Leros on October 3, was carried out according to all the regulations. Mouzalas pointed out that this person had crossed seven more countries but had only undergone registration procedures in Greece, Serbia and Croatia. Due to the fact that he was not documented in all the countries he crossed, we cannot be certain exactly which path he took to arrive in Paris. “What we want to say is that our country proves that it is doing all that is required by the EU for the registration of people entering Greece,” said Mouzalas.
The minister presented the passport photograph of Ahmed, who had arrived in Greece on a dinghy that carried another 198 people. The man had not undergone identification based on his passport but through rigorous documentation in Greece that included fingerprinting according to the identification guidelines that was crucial when ascertaining that the man who had arrived in Greece was one and the same as the person who had carried out the massacre.
“In our opinion, the bombing attack could have happened whether he had passed through with a passport or not,” he said. “It would be wrong to link the refugee crisis with terrorism on account of this terrorist and for his actions to have a consequence on refugees.”
Ahmad Almohammad, of Walid and Nadrh, born September 1990 at Edlib Syria
On 13-11-2015, after the terrorist strike at Stade de France, Paris, the Syrian passport with the aforementioned person’s name was found beside the dead person that appears to have been one of the perpetrators, without this being certain that it belonged to him.
He arrived in Greece on 3-10-2015.
He came to Leros with another 198 people in a dinghy from Turkey.
He was documented by the Coast Guard and fingerprinted on 3-10-2015 according to EU regulations.
He appeared at Rhodes Prosecution on 4-10-2015.
On the same day, he was given certification that banned his leaving for six months.
On 6-10-2015 he was issued a ticket to travel to Piraeus but could not due to bad weather conditions, so he arrived at Piraeus on 8-10-2015.
French authorities state that he had been checked by the authorities of Croatia in October 2015 before he went to France.