- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

German Migration Office in Bremen Halts Asylum Decisions Until Graft Probe Ends

© AFP 2023 / DPA / CARMEN JASPERSENPolicemen patrol on the market place in front of the city hall of Bremen, northwestern Germany, on February 28, 2015. Bremen police have specifically warned about Islamic terrorists at large in the Hanseatic city.
Policemen patrol on the market place in front of the city hall of Bremen, northwestern Germany, on February 28, 2015. Bremen police have specifically warned about Islamic terrorists at large in the Hanseatic city. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees' (BAMF) branch in the city of Bremen will stop processing asylum applications until the corruption investigation launched against the institution is concluded, BAMF said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The @BAMF_Dialog arrival center in Bremen will no longer make any decisions on granting asylum until the end of the investigation. This is Minister [Horst] #Seehofer's decision," BAMF posted on its Twitter account.

The corruption scandal around BAMF erupted in April, after it was revealed that a former official from the institution's Bremen regional office and his four colleagues took bribes in exchange for granting around 1,200 refugees asylum, although they did not meet the criteria.

READ MORE: Germany to Build Deportation Centers for Unwanted Migrants — Reports

People wait to be registered at the central registration office for refugees in Greven, western Germany, on September 22, 2015 - Sputnik International
German Minister Tasks Supreme Audit Institution to Check Migration Agency
BAMF announced on Friday that it would examine 18,000 decisions on granting asylum since 2000 by its office in Bremen, while media reported that another 8,500 positive asylum decisions issued in the BAMF's 10 regional offices amid the corruption scandal would also be double-checked.

Germany has become a major destination for thousands of migrants and refugees from the Middle East amid instability caused by the civil war in Syria and the activity of the Daesh* terrorist group in the region. According to BAMF, between 2014 and 2016 Germany received over one million asylum applications, more than any other country in the European Union. As a result of the influx, the German authorities have tightened migration controls.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала