German official: 1/3 of asylum seekers claiming to be Syrians are from elsewhere

A German official on Friday more-or-less revealed something that has been an “open secret” amongst European law enforcement and news media in recent months: roughly one-third of asylum seekers arriving in Germany and claiming to be from Syria hail from other countries.

German interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate told a press conference on Friday that this is an “estimate based on the observations of officials on the ground, especially the federal police, the Office for Migration and Refugees and Frontex,” he continued.

In a report also disseminated by Reuters, the German official said Berlin does not collect official figures on the numbers of migrants who give false information about their nationality.

Germany is expecting more than 800,000 immigrants and refugees to enter the country this year. The number entering the country surged after Germany said it would admit Syrians even if they should have technically claimed asylum in the first EU country they entered en route to Germany.