SYRIANS WHO ENTERED HONDURAS ILLEGALLY
ASK FOR ASYLUM
FIVE SYRIANS WHO ENTERED HONDURAS ON
FORGED GREEK PASSPORTS HAVE REQUESTED
ASYLUM, HONDURAN OFFICIALS HAVE SAID
They were arrested last week on arrival at
Tocontin airport in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa,
from where they planned to travel to the United States.
Their arrest came just days after the attacks in Paris
and raised concerns in the US that Islamist militants
could be trying to enter the country illegally. They have
been charged with falsifying documents. They were
arrested after Greek diplomats were called to the airport
terminal and found the five did not speak any Greek.
‘No militant links’
Shortly after their arrest, Honduran police said
there were no signs the men had any links to any
militant groups. But the fact that they had successfully
traveled through a number of Latin American countries
on doctored passports before being stopped in
Honduras raised concerns in Latin America and their
intended destination, the U.S.
Honduran police said the five men, who range
in age from 21 to 30 years, arrived on a flight from
Costa Rica, where they had spent several days. Police
spokesman Anibal Baca said that “we received
information from [fellow] police services that these five
Syrians left Greece and passed through Turkey, Brazil,
Argentina and San Jose in Costa Rica before finally
reaching Tegucigalpa”.
From there, they had planned to travel north to
Guatemala and on to the US, he said. US Senator
James Risch, who is a member of the Selected
Committee on Intelligence, called the news “very
troubling”. Honduran Minister for Human Rights Rigoberto Chang Castillo said on Monday that the five
had requested asylum “because their lives were at risk
in their home country”. The minister said their request
would be considered even though they had been
charged with forging official documents. A court will
decide later on Tuesday whether they will face trial.
Disponível em: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america34909482 Acesso em nov. 2015.
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