Filenews 5 October 2022
The increase in incidents of impersonation and the presentation of false documents, during passport checks at the airports of Cyprus, was the subject of a meeting that took place recently, at the Police Headquarters, headed by the Deputy Chief of Police, Dimitris Demetriou. From the beginning of this year until today, more than 230 such incidents have been detected.
According to an announcement by the Police, almost daily, during passport checks carried out at the airports of Cyprus, persons are identified, who try to travel, mainly to central European countries, either with false travel documents or with genuine documents that do not belong to them.
"From the beginning of this year until today, more than 230 such incidents have been detected. The specially trained members of the Aliens and Immigration Service, who staff the passport control points, with the help of the special equipment they have, carry out the necessary checks for the authenticity of the travel records, as well as for any offenses related to impersonation," the statement said.
More than 90 cases concerned foreigners who attempted to travel with false travel documents and more than 140 concerned cases of impersonation, where foreigners attempted to travel with genuine travel documents, which, however, did not belong to them.
The Police notes that in 2021 it handled more than 110 cases involving the presentation of false travel documents and more than 150 cases of impersonation.
From the beginning of the year until today, the Police, through the Aliens and Immigration Service, proceeded to the investigation of more than 50 cases involving smugglers of irregular migrants and the arrest of more than 80 persons. In 2021, around 30 cases were investigated, for which 50 arrests were made.
Moreover, from the beginning of the year until 30/09/2022, more than 5,260 persons were deported from Cyprus or voluntarily returned to their countries, of whom 650 were detained by the Police, according to the announcement.
The meeting, which was attended by members from various competent Services and Police Departments, discussed, among other things, the evolution of this phenomenon, as well as the taking of further measures to address it, the statement said.
