Man detained in Central America amid heightened security in wake of Paris attacks are most likely ‘normal’ refugees with no links to terrorism

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Five Syrians with stolen Greek passports who were detained in Honduras amid heightened concerns over international border security following the Paris terror attacks are most likely “normal” refugees, authorities said.



The men, who were thought to be en route to the US, were detained in the capital Tegucigalpa on Tuesday night after travelling through Latin America using stolen Greek passports.

They were held amid a wave of intense debate in the US over border security following last Friday’s attacks which left 129 people dead and 300 injured in Paris.

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Fears that Islamist militants might pass themselves off as refugees have been stoked after a passport purportedly belonging to a Syrian refugee was found at one of the terror scenes in Paris. Officials believe the document was a fake.

Honduran authorities said there was no evidence linking the five detainees to terrorism.

“Five Syrian citizens have been detained and will be taken to our offices to be investigated because it is suspected they are carrying false documents, passports stolen in Greece,” Anibal Baca, a police spokeswoman said. “They are normal Syrians.”

She added: “We are not saying they are terrorists. They are being investigated for using false passports. It could be they are fleeing war. That is being investigated.”

Few details are known about the Syrian nationals except that they travelled by air from Syria to Lebanon, then to Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica and finally to Honduras where they did not get past airport security.

They were planning to travel overland to the US through Guatemala and Mexico – where authorities have detained at least 11 Syrians so far this year.

Barack Obama has criticised “hysteria” over a potential threat posed by Syrian refugees, but since the Paris attacks at least 31 US states have expressed resistance to accepting Syrians attempting to flee their country’s civil war.



Republican lawmakers defied Obama on Wednesday and set out plans to tighten the screening of Syrian refugees. The move casts doubt on Obama’s promise to take in 10,000 Syrians next year from the war-torn country.

About 4 million Syrians have fled their homeland since the outbreak of civil war in March 2011. The vast majority have sought refuge in neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, but a growing number are seeking asylum in Europe and some are travelling even further afield in hope of finding safety.

The US has accepted 2,159 Syrian refugees since October 2011, according to the State Department.