Migrants are using the World Cup ticketing system to illegally enter the European Union (EU) without a visa.

The tournament is based in Russia this year and a number of neighbouring nations have reported the “phenomenon” of this new form of immigration fraud. So far, the authorities, have identified a number of Moroccans, one Nigerian, and one Chinese person who have used fan ID to illegally cross from Russia, which is not in the EU, into Finland, which is, and apply for asylum there, Spiegel Online reports. The Moroccans walked for several hours through forests to reach Finland, said border force spokesman Ville Mihl. The Chinese migrant had taken a flight from Russia to Helsinki with a World Cup fan ID, and the Nigerian man had initially submitted a fake Brazilian passport before using the fan ID to enter Finland. “We had expected it,” said Marko Saareks of the Finnish border force. “But we were surprised that the first ones came right at the beginning of the tournament.” (Read more)

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