New Zealand-bound Iranian deported for using fake passport

An Iranian national has been deported after attempting to travel to New Zealand on a transit flight from Sri Lanka using a fake German passport yesterday (Aug 2).

The foreign national, a female, had arrived in Sri Lanka at around 3:15 pm from Turkey before attempting to board a flight to New Zealand.

Suspicions on the passport had arisen when an Immigration and Emigration Department officer had learnt that the particulars of the passport had been included in the database of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).

The officer had examined the passport using a database linking the Department and INTERPOL.

Further inquiries carried by the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Sri Lanka had shown that the passport had been a lost one belonging to a German national. According to the Immigration Department's database, the original owner of the passport had arrived in the country in 2016.

The Iranian national, during a questioning had stated that several Iranians use fake passports to travel to New Zealand as refugees through Sri Lanka. Steps had been taken to deport the Iranian national to Turkey.