ANADOLU•GETTY Refugees at Freilassing railway station on the German-Austrian border

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The country controversially opened its doors to all Syrians fleeing the country's civil war last month, sparking the biggest migrant influx since the Second World War. But yesterday a top politican claimed at least 25 per cent of the supposedly Syrian refugees are in fact from elsewhere. Interior minister Lorenz Caffier said: "At least a quarter of those refugees allegedly coming from Syria are not from Syria, but from other Arab or African countries."

Almost without exception, every refugee pretends to be a Syrian Rainer Wendt

Rainer Wendt, head of Germany's police union, recently made the same claim. He said: "Almost without exception, every refugee pretends to be a Syrian when in fact, many come from other countries, even from sub-Saharan Africa." And a police officer, who wished to remain anonymous, argued: "All [refugees] present themselves as Syrians, even if they are obviously black Africans."

GETTY Angela Merkel recently opened Germany's doors to Syrian refugees

This week politicians made a dramatic U-turn on its open-door policy after admitting it was straining the country's ability to provide accommodation. Temporary border checks were introduced to stem the flow of thousands of refugees, many of them travelling by train from Austria to Munich. Germany's national railway, Deutsche Bahn, halted services from Austria for around 12 hours as the situation spiralled out of control.

Refugees seek peace in war torn Syria Tue, July 11, 2017 Devastating images of Syrian refugees seeking peace on their journey to Europe. Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 53 Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State