The problem of forged or fraudulent passports in Europe – especially from the Middle East – is so bad that it has forced the U.S. government to warn five countries that they have until next week to act, or they will lose their visa-free travel rights. Interpol says there are 250,000 passports, mostly from Iraq and Syria, that have been lost or stolen in the last five years.  And that includes blank documents. Politico: American and European security officials speak of an “epidemic” created by a spike in demand from asylum-seekers — and from terrorists like those who carried out the Paris attacks last November, two of whom were carrying counterfeit documents. In the aftermath of Paris, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security became so worried about the implications for screening travelers to America that it gave France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Greece a February 1 deadline to fix “crucial loopholes” or lose access to the...(Read Full Post)