Europol chief tells Nigel Farage to stop misquoting him with 'false and alarmist' claim of 5,000 Isis jihadists in Europe

Nigel Farage has been accused of "falsely" claiming that EU migration policy has allowed 5,000 Isis-inspired terrorists into Europe.

Rob Wainwright, the British director of European law enforcement agency Europol, said the Ukip leader's claim had “no basis in fact” and was “a very serious, even alarmist, conflation of migration and terrorism”.

Mr Farage used a TV set-piece on Tuesday to claim Mr Wainwright had said the EU’s policy towards refugees and migrants had led to “5,000 jihadis” entering the EU in the past 15 months.

However, Mr Wainwright said the figure was incorrect and based on false newspaper reports. He also strongly denied he had drawn a link between Europe’s response to the migration crisis and the number of potential terrorists entering the EU.

He told The Independent that 5,000 was the number of European nationals estimated by Europol to have been radicalised and travelled to Syria and Iraq, but that “by no means” had all of them returned to Europe.

“I suspect less than one third have and of those the largest proportion are unlikely to pose a terrorist threat,” he said.

“Whilst I certainly believe we have a serious terrorist threat in Europe the numbers we are dealing with are much lower than those quoted by Mr Farage and I think keeping a sense of proportion is important on such matters.”

However, he said there was “absolutely no excuse” for Mr Farage’s claim that he had said the EU’s migration policy had “led to” 5,000 jihadists entering Europe.

“There is no basis in fact, not even false media reporting, for this point and it is a very serious, even alarmist, conflation of migration and terrorism,” he said.

“I have consistently said that we have observed some isolated examples of terrorists travelling through migratory routes and that, possibly, the incidence of such cases is rising but on a tiny scale compared to any claim of 5,000.”

Mr Wainwright said he had publicly corrected Mr Farage after the Ukip leader made similar claims at a public event last month.

“I am disappointed therefore, that he continues to quote me in this way,” he said.

A Ukip spokesman said Mr Farage would be advised the 5,000 figure was a “misinterpretation”. However, the spokesman said 2,000 Isis-inspired individuals within the borders of the EU was “nothing to be complacent about” in light of the recent terror attacks in Paris and Brussels.