2 August 2023 09:46 am Views - 755
Tearing their travel documents at Milan Malpensa Airport and seeking asylum was the modus operandi of an effort to end up in a European country, was divulged by five Sri Lankan males who were apprehended by Immigration authorities whilst attempting to flee the country with fake German passports.
The Department of Immigration and Emigration extensively questioned five men from Jaffna who had tried to flee the country and seek refuge in Milan, Italy when four of them were intercepted at the boarding gates of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Monday.
Officials of the Immigration and Emigration Department Border Security Unit (BSO) stationed at the BIA on suspicion intercepted two males who had checked into SriLankan Airlines flight UL101 bound for the Maldives on Monday morning.
Upon inquiry the officials have found genuine Sri Lankan passports with them and with tickets to go to Male and then to Frankfurt in Germany via a transit in Milan, Italy accordingly. However, out of suspicion the sleuths had searched the travellers’ bags to find two bogus German passports in their possession, the immigration sources said.
When the travellers were questioned about their intentions, the latter had disclosed that two other passengers of the same group had checked in earlier and were waiting at the boarding gates. The sleuths took the other two passengers also into custody and found two more fake German passports in their possession other than the two genuine Sri Lankan passports.
The group was then grilled to learn that a fifth passenger who was also from Jaffna had already left the country for the Maldives on an early morning flight and that all five of them were to travel to Germany via a transit in Italy afterwards.
However, following the extensive interrogation, the passengers had divulged that their plan was to leave Sri Lanka with genuine local passports and then board a flight bound for Germany with bogus German passports from Male. Instead of proceeding to Frankfurt with the fake German passports, the travellers had planned to tear their travel documents and apply for asylum in italy. The suspects who were between 25 – 35 years of age had been assisted by a local agent for a fee of Rs.5 million each to arrange their illegal trip and the former had already paid Rs.2 million each to the agent, the sources said.