Rich refugees pay thousands to flee war-torn Syria in luxury

16 The Telegraph

Amid the jewellery stores and art galleries of a bijou district of Beirut, the travel agent's office was bustling with customers.

Elegantly dressed women wearing Gucci glasses and with manicured nails flicked through glossy brochures advertising Mediterranean cruises and package holidays as they waited their turn.

At his desk the agent worked through customers' requests: passports could be bought with a bribe; so could many European visas.

The journeys could be long, but the travel was safe and tailored for the client's "maximum comfort", he assured them.

As thousands of Syrian refugees risk their lives, flinging themselves on overcrowded rubber dinghies, or hiding in livestock transporters to reach Europe, Syria's rich are smuggled to the continent on planes and luxury cruise liners.

An undercover investigation by The Daily Telegraph has exposed an elite smuggling network which extends from Lebanon and Turkey to top European destinations, including Paris, Stockholm and London. It may cost tens of thousands of pounds, but for those who can afford it, illegal immigration is relatively easy - and it is an option that several thousand Syrians, fleeing the country's civil war, are already taking.

The "travel agent" in Beirut laid out the routes when The Daily Telegraph posed as a potential client. Over the past few years, as the war in Syria destroyed the country, the agent has devised a series of options to send his clients abroad.