Germany’s Justice Minister on Monday warned against drawing a hasty link between refugees and perpetrators of the deadly Paris attacks, warning that the ISIS group could be trying to exploit the debate over Europe’s migrant influx.
The French police’s discovery of a purported Syrian passport near the body of one attacker in particular has sparked concerns that at least one of the assailants might have entered Europe with the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria’s civil war.
But Justice Minister Heiko Maas called for “very, very great prudence, until things are clear”. “We are aware that the ISIS is known to leave such false tracks behind to politicise and radicalise the issue over refugees in Europe,” Maas told public broadcaster ARD.