Staff council blames management for German asylum scandal
May 29, 2018
In an open letter, the council chairman said executives "must be in focus" in the probe. Public sector employees have been accused of mishandling asylum applications, and possibly taking bribes.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
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The staff council of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) strongly criticized internal processes at the agency in an open letter published by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on Tuesday.
BAMF chief Jutta Cordt is expected to give her assessment of the situation to a parliamentary committeeImage: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Jaspersen
According to the council's open letter, upper management pressured staff todeal with asylum applications quickly, despite an overload of cases, especially at the height of the migration crisis in 2015.
"The so-called executives, and not the low-ranking employees of the federal office, must be in focus," said council chairman Rudolf Scheinost and deputy chairman Paul Müller in the open letter.
Reforms on the table?
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and Cordt are expected to address a parliamentary committee later Tuesday to clarify the situation and provide information as to who may be responsible for the asylum applications in question.
Seehofer has proposed reforming the way asylum applications are handled. The former Bavarian state premier has also floated the idea of so-called anchor centers where refugees would be placed for processing upon arrival.
German asylum scandal: A timeline
Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is under fire over allegations that officials in some branches may have accepted bribes in exchange for granting asylum. Thousands of cases will be re-examined.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
Corruption scandal at BAMF
On April 20, 2018, a number of employees at the regional BAMF office in Bremen were accused of having illegally accepted hundreds of asylum applicants between 2013 and 2017, mainly from Iraq's Yazidi community. Bremen public prosecutors announced that six people, including the former director of the Bremen BAMF office, were under investigation for alleged corruption in about 1,200 cases.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Geisler-Fotopress
Damage control
Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reacted swiftly to the allegations, saying it would be wrong to speculate on what consequences the incident could have for the BAMF immigration offices. He said that the "extremely serious allegations" would first have to be resolved. The BAMF scandal could be a major embarrassment to Chancellor Merkel's open-door policy to refugees.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
The plot thickens
A few weeks into the scandal, German media reported that 13 further regional BAMF branches were going to be subject to checks regarding their approval of asylum applications. The branches had apparently come under scrutiny for showing noticeable differences in the number of asylum applications accepted or rejected in comparison to other offices. Some 8,000 applications will have to be re-checked.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
BAMF head under fire
A month into the scandal, details emerged that BAMF had been informed about the possible improprieties in Bremen earlier than thought, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported. The irregularities were reportedly flagged back in February 2017. In the light of the growing scandal, BAMF head Jutta Cordt announced that some 18,000 asylum decisions made in Bremen since 2000 now had to be re-checked.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
Seehofer to face parliamentary committee
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer meanwhile confirmed that he would testify before a special meeting of the Bundestag internal affairs committee to be convened at the request of the Green Party. The committee hopes to avoid a full-blown parliamentary investigation, which two other opposition parties — the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the center-right FDP — are calling for.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/D. Karmann
Man of the hour
This might be the man who would have to answer some serious questions if a comprehensive parliamentary inquiry should be launched. Thomas de Maiziere was Germany's interior minister until the beginning of the year, overseeing the management of asylum application at the height of the refugee crisis. De Maiziere, an ally of Merkel's, criticized the shortcomings of the assessment system in the past.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Schreiber
Stripped of authority
On May 23, the German Interior Ministry prohibited the regional BAMF office in Bremen from deciding whether individual refugees will be given asylum in the country. Seehofer said an internal BAMF report had shown that "legal regulations and internal policies" had been "disregarded" at the center.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Assanimoghaddam
Federal Police join probe
The city of Bremen has said Germany's Federal Criminal Police are now part of the inquiry into the wide-ranging corruption. The decision came after a crisis meeting on the scandal surrounding the city's asylum procedure for refugees.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/ZB/M. Toedt
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In 2015, nearly 900,000 people entered Germany irregularly, many of them fleeing conflict and extreme poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The ensuing crisis prompted a tumultuous debate about the role of host countries, and also the responsibilities of refugees in Germany and elsewhere in the EU.
