Lebanese Education Minister Elias Bou Saab warned British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday that the Islamic State group is sending jihadists posing as Syrian refugees to carry out terror attacks in West.
Saab suggested one in 50, or two percent, of Syrian refugees entering Europe could be radicals sent by ISIS to attack western targets, reported Irish Independent. He made the remarks while travelling with Cameron, who is on a surprise visit to Lebanon and Jordan.
"Yes, they bring some people, the smugglers. They organize groups and send them out. They are all dressed with something unified, uniform, vests," Saab said when asked whether ISIS members could be entering Europe posing as refugees, according to abna24.
"I don't have any information. My gut feeling is yes they (ISIS) are facilitating such an operation. For what reason, I don't know," he said, according to Telegraph. "You may have, let's say, two percent that are radicals. That is more than enough. We have had that also with our camps here. You find two percent - three percent of them."
The United Nations' refugee agency slammed Lebanese minister's claims.
"This kind of statement is extremely unhelpful. A refugee has a genuine fear of persecution, if you have any military connection at all then you lose your status as refugee," a spokeswoman said, according to Independent.
Saab's remarks follow warnings from Pope Francis that ISIS fighters, posing as refugees, could enter Europe.
"The truth is that just 400 kilometers from Sicily there is an incredibly cruel terrorist group. So there is a danger of infiltration, this is true," Francis told Portuguese radio station Radio Renascenca recently, according to Express.
