Arabs and Afghans use Georgia to get into Europe

Nationals of some Arab countries and Afghanistan are using Georgia for getting into Europe: they buy forged Georgian passports. This was said on Wednesday by Georgian Security Minister Valery Khaburdzaniya.

Appearing on state television screens, he said that a group of Afghan nationals has recently been detained in Georgia. They arrived from Armenia with forged Iranian passports. They were going to buy forged Georgian passports and with their help enter European countries, he said. Valery Khaburdzaniya would not go into details of the incident, referring to secrecy of investigation.

According to the Georgian State Security Ministry, there are several groups in Georgia engaged in passport and visa forgery. Fake documents can be bought for between five and ten thousand dollars, depending on the receiving country.

The minister also said that "among those forging passports and foreign visas there are Georgian nationals and foreigners, including staffers of some foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Tbilisi".