Is the Syrian citizen Ahmed Almuhamed , the assumed terrorist in Paris, who apparently drove through the territory of Macedonia? It still remains a mystery, and Macedonian authorities have remained silent and secretive over the matter.
Greece and Serbia yesterday confirmed that a person with that identity,went through the so-called ‘Balkan Corridor’, the most popular route for refugees moving towards Western Europe. Their sources say that their offices had registered this person of interest and recorded the correct dates and information for Almuhamed.
To date there has been no reaction from the Macedonian authorities, primarily from the Ministry of Interior (MOI), whose responsibility it is for the registration of migrants passing through the country and to issue certificates for period up to a 72-hour stay.
There are only two possible scenarios: either Almuhamed had been registered – or he had not been. However, for either possibility there is no official evidence forthcoming from the MOI, or whether the French authorities requested information from Macedonia about the movement of this alleged terrorist.
Sources close to this story tell “Meta” Almuhamed most likely passed through Macedonian territory, as it is common practice for him and many others not to have registered. Many migrant/refugees do not register because many of them entering the country are not registered due to entering through “holes” on the southern border, where security forces find it very difficult to control.
“It is possible that he did not even get registered in the country for various reasons. One reason is that not all migrants enter via the quota 59 which is controlled by the police and military, where they accept migrants coming from Greece, where many of them are registered. Considerable numbers, enter through Dojran and other points of entry before meeting other refugees and migrants and then merging into larger groups. Another reason, is that the Greeks usually release huge numbers of migrants at once, and the staff on the southern border can not issue certificates at all, due to pressure of such large numbers. It is one issue when 2000-3000 enter, and another when it exceeds that figure. If, lets say, the Greeks let 5,000 people cross at once, we can register 50 percent of them. If there is 10,000 migrants crossing all at once from the Greek side, the percentage of registered migrants is very small” according to well informed sources who have been speaking to “Meta”.
Another problem for Macedonian authorities is that bio-metric information (fingerprinting) from migrants has not been implemented because they can not make a positive identification to compare with data submitted, says our source, adding that such a project has been initiated and should be up and running helped with money sent from the European Union, however nothing was done to start the project due to difficulties.
If Almuhamed had been registered in this country, then the information could have been found relevantly easily as Greek and Serbian authorities have precise dates for his movement through their territories.
The Greek Minister of Migration, Ionnis Mouzalas at yesterday’s press conference displayed all documents registering Almuhamed in Greek territory, with a photograph and fingerprints.
According to Minister Mouzalas he arrived in Greece from Turkey on October the 3rd, the ship on which he arrived had another 198 refugees. He was registered and identified on the island of Leros, where his details and fingerprints were taken. He also received a document that allowed him a six month stay in Greece. Several days later, Almuhamed arrived at the Macedonian border, and entered Serbia. Serbian newspaper “Blic”, reported that Almuhamed was registered in Presevo on the 7th of October, from where he continued his journey to Croatia. There he remained approximately for six hours, before crossing into Hungary and then into Austria.
A Passport in his name was discovered on the remains of one of the terrorist who detonated an explosive device near the stadium “Stade de France”, where a friendly international football fixture between France and Germany was taking place. French authorities, are still investigating whether the found passport actually belonged to the deceased, whether it is an original document or as lots of the worlds media has reported that it was deliberately planted their by terrorists to stoke antagonism in Europe against arriving Syrian refugees.
The Serbian daily “Politika” wrote a month ago that the Serbian police is the only country of the so-called Balkan Corridor who actually performs bio-metric scanning (fingerprinting) of migrants.
“Meta” yesterday asked the Macedonian Interior Ministry, but received no answer to the following questions: Did the French authorities ask for information and data from the Macedonian Interior Ministry on the movement of the Syrian citizen? Did he pass through the territory of Macedonia and is there confirmation of that? Does the MOI keep a register (database) and bio-metric data (fingerprints, photos etc.) for all migrants who passed through the Macedonian territory and who have been issued a certificate of expressed intention to seek asylum? Have safety and security levels been elevated on the south and the northern border and are there sufficient controls at entry and exit points of migrants in and out of Macedonia?
