Over the past five years, thousands of people have allegedly traveled to Germany with false documents at the behest of the German Foreign Ministry, with several German embassies and consulates reportedly implicated in the scandal.
Now, prosecutors in Berlin and Cottbus are investigating several employees of the Federal Foreign Office, with the potential for criminal charges. If the prosecutors confirm the allegations, it could mark a major immigration scandal for a government that has been accused of promoting a policy of open borders, including a new law that will accelerate naturalizations and bring in hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of more immigrants through family reunification and other schemes.
According to German media outlets, most of those who entered the country with false documents approved by the foreign ministry allegedly later applied for asylum in Germany, according to German media outlet Focus.
Reports indicate that the German Foreign Ministry has been under investigation for more than a year, allegedly instructing staff at the German consulate in Islamabad, Pakistan, to issue a visa to a man named Mohammad G., knowing that his passport was false. According to the report, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs ignored warnings from the federal police in the case of several Afghans.
Prosecutors are targeting employees who are suspected of having instructed staff at German embassies and consulates to “allow applicants with incomplete or obviously forged documents to enter Germany.”
The German foreign ministry initially refused to comment on the investigations, but a spokesperson later announced that the ministry was aware of three investigations. The known individual cases were responded to with organizational measures.
German newspaper Bild has also learned of at least 20 other highly problematic visas issued to Afghan nationals, which are currently under investigation by prosecutors. These allegedly concern visa stickers in travel documents that were not applied for and collected by the holder in person.
The scandal started with the case of Mohammad Ali G. In his case, the legal department of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs clashed with the visa office in Islamabad, Pakistan, because local officials refused to grant the man, who had allegedly fled Afghanistan, a visa to enter Germany. While investigating the case, Bild came across an order given by the legal department to the Pakistani visa center to allow Mohammad Ali G. to enter Germany.
It read: ‘In fact, there is no doubt as to the identity of the applicant (…), false passport or not (…).”
In Lebanon, hundreds of people also allegedly used forged documents to obtain a coveted visa to Germany. All this was made possible by two fraudsters from the prestigious Goethe Institute who circumvented the rules on family reunification.
To do this, applicants must submit a language test certificate to German visa centers, along with other documents. This certificate is issued by the Goethe Institute, which is funded by the German Foreign Office, but in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, 449 cases of forgery have been reported.
