Nine held in Noumea over fake passports

Two people remain in custody and seven others are under house arrest in New Caledonia after they were found carrying false passports two weeks ago.

Police have said a group of 12 people apparently from the Middle East and caught in possession of allegedly forged Danish and stolen Irish passports, were part of a human trafficking scheme.

Police would not give details on what has happened to the remaining 3 people, apart from saying they have been sent away, Radio New Zealand International reports.

None of them wants to give a real name, they just say they are Palestinians or Iraqis.

But police say so far four have been identified thanks to the cooperation with Australian police.

As the inquiry has been opened here, the refugees will be judged in New Caledonia.

But that poses a problem, because no one knows when they will be trialled and France doesn’t extradite Iraqis say police, so New Caledonia will have to deal with these refugees.