Europe's "porous" borders mean that terrorists could be able to "hide"
among migrants coming from Syria, the head of the Metropolitan Police has warned
as he criticised the Schengen agreement.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said that in the wake of the Paris terror attacksEurope has a significant "problem" because it has "millions of people
wandering through" but only "limited control over the
borders".
Asked if he is a fan of the Schengen agreement on open borders, he wants
"good strong borders" to ensure that the police and security services can
properly assess the risk people pose.
Sir Bernard
Hogan-Howe, the head of the Metropolitan Polce Photo: Gareth
Fuller/PA
He told LBC Radio: "If you've got porous borders and you've got migrants
coming through there's a risk that terrorists are hidden amongst them or people
who become terrorists get hidden amongst them.
"But none of us have yet seen clear evidence of that, there's clearly
been reporting of it over these last few hours that people were found with
certain passports that might have been used in Greece.
"This country's actually got quite good border controls compared to the
rest of Europe. As we know they've got two problemas at the moment on
Europe.
"One is you've got millions of people wandering through Europe and number
two is you've got limited control over borders".
He added: "In the UK [it is] quite a hard thing to go across borders. You
get into continental Europe, driving from Belgium to France is not that big a
deal. it's like us going from here to Scotland. You just drive over it, you
don't even notice the borders there. Different countries have different
borders."
Sir Bernard also said that he wants to double the number of armed
officers on the streets of London in the wake of the Paris
attacks.
