Filenews 31 July 2021 - by Dora Christodoulou
An unexpected problem, which is already taking on serious dimensions, must be addressed by the security authorities of the Republic following the air link between Paphos and France. Strange as it may sound, flights that have been taking place on an ongoing basis for some time from Paphos Airport to Paris and Marseille have contributed to the appearance of fraud. In almost every passport check before such flights, the authorities have found persons of African origin equipped with forged travel documents in order to travel to France as European citizens.
In the last two weeks alone, similar actions have been taken on four different occasions, with the Police detecting in a timely manner and arresting a total of 14 people. In all cases those arrested came from African countries, notably Congo and Nigeria, held travel documents that were genuine but belonged to other persons and attempted to leave for France pretending to be European citizens.
The culmination of this organised project took place on Friday evening, when a total of six people, men and women, jointly implemented this plan but were uncovered by the police officers during the passport check.
All those arrested after their arrest admit by questioning that the travel documents did not belong to them. Some were bought n the occupied area, others claim that they found them by chance, after the loss by their rightful owners and others that they were given them by known individuals.
The authorities have been placed on heightened alert anyway during the days of flights from Paphos to France, since it is now clear that African nationals who are either in Cyprus awaiting examination of their applications for political refugee status, or who arrive illegally in the Republic-controlled areas via occupied areas, are trying to take advantage of the low fares of flights from Paphos Airport to reach French airports.
