On orders from Annalena Baerbock’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, German embassies, especially in Africa and Asia, skimped on following due diligence when evaluating family reunification applications from foreign nationals. That’s the conclusion of an investigation by Cicero magazine, published on July 25th. In at least one instance, two men suspected of being foreign agents came close to being flown to Germany under the reunification plan.
The in-depth journalistic investigation adds to previous reports, currently being investigated by public prosecutors, alleging that the foreign ministry issued illegal passports and visas and relied on left-wing NGOs rather than German security authorities to assess the eligibility of applicants.
German visa offices abroad have a lengthy verification process due to concerns about the reliability of identity documentation from various countries. The process determines applicants’ eligibility for family reunification with relatives who already have legal immigration status.
In a classified document sent by email, and obtained by Cicero, Baerbock’s foreign office in March 2022 directed visa offices at embassies to remove obstacles to legal immigration through the family reunification program—by not applying the full established procedure:
The applicants must prove the existence of the prerequisites [for example, family relationships]. It is sufficient if the applicants convince with a degree of certainty suitable for practical life, which commands silence to doubts, without completely excluding them.
Internal tension between the interior ministry and the foreign affairs ministry on the issue of was evident in a document seen by Cicero:
[The interior ministry] wishes for additional security interviews and a complete visa process in third countries for departures under the [Federal Admission Program for Afghanistan]—which will constitute the majority of all departures next year—similar to the usual procedures for resettlement.
In a margin note, Cicero said, Baerbock had written: “We should not accept this. We need to stand firm, potentially escalate this up to the level of the federal minister, possibly publicly.”
Baerbock has previously written in internal communication that, “pressure should be put” on the Ministry of the Interior if it delays or prevents entry due to security concerns.
The loosened vetting procedures has brought renewed concerns about who is actually let into the country.
One case pertained to a family of seven whose application for resettlement had been approved. After the mother and four children had flown to Germany, questions arose about the father and alleged son, who were still in Afghanistan. The son spoke Farsi with a Pakistani—not Afghani—accent, and the father, purportedly a barber, in interviews gave an impression of being “highly educated, almost military-like.”
The embassy raised suspicions in a letter to Berlin, writing, “The main character and family could have been deliberately given Afghan identities. … There is strong suspicion that this is a case staged by Pakistani authorities.”
Apollo News previously reported on how Baerbock’s foreign ministry has allowed thousands of alleged Afghans—including people with obviously forged passports—to be flown to Germany under a “humanitarian admission program.”
In January of this year, federal police officers discovered that several passengers who had been hand-picked by the federal government—and completed the visa process—arrived in Hanover with invalid documents.
Welt am Sonntag, citing security sources, said the scope of the visa issue in the foreign ministry is greater than previously known, and that thousands of entries into the country are being rechecked and reevaluated by the criminal police.
