Lebanese education minister Elias Bou Saab suggested that thousands of ISIS “radicals” could be among the 1.1million Syrians currently in migrant camps.
He predicted that one in 50 migrants are members of the terror organisation, which he feels would be “more than enough” to cause problems for European countries.
Mr Saab spoke yesterday as David Cameron made a visit to compounds in Lebanon and Jordan, during which the Prime Minister highlighted Britain’s contribution of more than £1 billion to support refugee camps for displaced Syrians to stay in the region.
The minister admitted that he had no solid information on the infiltration of refugees by the depraved terror group, but claimed his “gut feeling” told him it was happening.
He fears terrorists could exploit the desperation of refugees in camps to recruit dismayed migrants to fight for the jihadi cause.
He said: “My gut feeling is they [ISIS] are facilitating an operation. To go to Europe and other places.
“You may have, let’s say, two per cent that could be radicals. That is more than enough.
“No hope, no work, no education, poor. All this will become easy to recruit.”
Mr Saab claimed that groups of uniformed refugees which look very different from the usual migrants have been arriving in Europe.
He said: “They are all dressed with something unified, uniform, vests.
“I don’t have any information. My gut feeling is yes they are facilitating such an operation. For what reason, I don’t know.”
The minister also claimed that members of the barbaric group have already launched attacks on Lebanese soldiers from within camps.
His comments echo those of Pope Francis, who yesterday revealed how he believes blood-thirsty ISIS militants are sneaking into Europe disguised as refugees.
The pontiff warned that terrorists could “infiltrate” Europe by hiding among the tens of thousands of migrants escaping the horrors of war-torn countries such as Syria and Libya.
The Pope said: “It’s true, I also want to recognise that, nowadays, territorial security conditions are not the same as they were in other periods of mass migration.
“The truth is that just 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Sicily there is an incredibly cruel terrorist group. So there is a danger of infiltration, this is true.”
Asked if Rome could be the target of an attack during an interview with the Portuguese Catholic broadcaster Radio Renascenca, the pope replied: “Yes, nobody said Rome would be immune to this threat. But you can take precautions.”
UKIP leader Nigel Farage has also warned the Prime Minister that the barbaric group could exploit the migrant crisis, posing a “very big security worry” to the UK.
Mr Farage said: “”There is a problem with numbers, but there is an even more serious problem and that is that ISIS have been absolutely frank in saying that they will use this migration of people to put jihadi fighters into Europe.
“So there is a very big security worry as well.”
express.co.uk
