Migrant crisis – Theory of Jihadists amongst refugees “is ridiculous and does not hold water”

Migrant crisis – Theory of Jihadists amongst refugees “is ridiculous and does not hold water”

Islamic State and Al Qaida can use much safer channels into Europe and have no need to infiltrate migrants groups to reach the EU, confirm experts and police authorities. “Nothing at this stage points to Jihadists joining refugees,” says a high ranking French official in the fight against terrorism, who cannot be named.

They are not joining refugees “because they have enough money to use other routes, and also because they have legal documents, especially European fighters,” such as French citizen Mehdi Nemmouche who had just come back from Syria when he attacked the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014.

The threat of a Jihadist infiltration amongst migrant groups was highlighted in march by Gilles De Kerchove, EU coordinator in the fight against terrorism. Several right-wing and far-right speakers also expressed the same fear.

Alain Chouet, in charge of “security intelligence” at the French Secret Service Agency DGSE from 2000 to 2002, thinks the threat “is not credible. It’s ridiculous. It would be absurd from an operational point of view for an organisation to take this sort of risk. Absurd and pointless.”

“If IS wants to launch a new international terror offensive, they are not going to send thugs in amongst refugees: it would take them a month to get in and there would be a 50% chance of drowning in the process.”

(Source: Belga)


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