In the German consulate general in Erbil Syrian refugees are to SPIEGEL information against money with manipulated visas to have been equipped. But a consistent investigation of the grievances was omitted long.
For Jassem M. money sometime does not matter anymore. For years, the Syrian has not seen his family. Already in 2015, his wife and four children fled to Germany before the war. Father Jassem wants to follow, but a family reunification fails. He's stranded in Erbil, Iraq, but he can not stand it anymore. "I waited until it did not work anymore, so I decided to go to Germany on my own," says Jassem M. later to DER SPIEGEL. This time, nothing should go wrong, cost what it wants.
In autumn 2017, M. meets a man in a café in Erbil who tells him about a safe route to Germany. There is a possibility of success guaranteed. "He said he could get me a visa for Germany," says Jassem M. A visa with which one could enter by plane. The family man and the smuggler agree on a price of 12,000 dollars - to pay only if M. actually holds the passport with the visa in his hands. As soon as he entered German territory, the smuggler said, Jassem could simply apply for asylum, the visa was only intended for trouble-free entry. The longing for his family, which plagues Jassem M., gives way to hope: "If he had demanded $ 15,000 or $ 20,000, I would have paid for it too - for my children."
The smuggler delivers, everything works as promised. Equipped with a passport photo and a form given by the smuggler, Jassem M. applied for a visa at the German Consulate General in Erbil on 18 October 2017 as part of a so-called state admission program. Only two weeks later, M. can pick up his passport there again, in the pages actually sticks the coveted visa.
The father books a flight, via Baghdad and Istanbul M. arrives on 21 November 2017 in Germany. With the passport controls there is no problem, the purchased visa is real. Now Jassem M. does not need the ID with the visa anymore. "At the airport in Germany, someone came to me and has taken my passport again, so that no one asks," said the 46-year-old. "That this happens was also agreed with the smugglers in Erbil". Finally Jassem M. is at the finish.
Visa against baksheesh: a corrupt system based on the suffering of the refugees. In the German diplomatic mission in Erbil, things seemed to go well for months. The case of Jassem M. is just one of many, as evidenced by a confidential list of suspected cases.
Internal documents of the authorities show after SPIEGEL information that it could have come in the consulate general to serious irregularities with the granting of visas to refugees. A consequent clarification of the grievances happened so far but probably not. Investigations in the Consulate General led to at least two dozen manipulated applications, which probably resulted in the illegal awarding of visas. There are indications that there could be many more cases.
Regularly, German consulates or embassies, especially in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, are in the focus of corruption or smuggling investigations when issuing visas. The shortcomings in the representations are mostly employed local workers who earn less than their German counterparts.
"There are also cultural differences," says an experienced investigator who for years specialized in cases of corruption in foreign missions. "In some countries, there are other practices." Favors against money are often widespread. "Since they could throw leaflets over the whole country, it will change little," said the investigator.
According to him, in the case of Erbil, the quantity of suspicious visa applications in question so far indicates a special case. Interviews by SPIEGEL with several refugees arrived in this way, documents from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees as well as other internal documents of the authorities paint the picture of a network of professional smugglers, allegedly corrupt consulate employees and some helpers in Germany.
Meeting point Café
The starting point in Erbil for the business were often certain cafés where refugees could contact smugglers. The prices for the visa varied accordingly between 2000 and 13,000 dollars. According to SPIEGEL research several German-speaking Iraqi local forces from the visa department of the Consulate General are suspected of having made common cause with the smugglers. This should indicate digital traces in the system left by these employees when processing the visa application.
Apparently manipulated applications were fed into the so-called RK visa program of the Consulate General, in the upcoming visa registrations are recorded. The perpetrators seem to have used massive weaknesses in the control system of the Consulate General: The few employees were overwhelmed with the large number of applications, they could at best examine superficially.
The example of the Syrian Rashed M., who is applying for a place in a state admission program at the Consulate General in November 2017, shows just how the perpetrators went about the alleged manipulations. In particular, there are two prerequisites for participating in the highly sought-after programs - such as those still offered by Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia at that time. Firstly, there must be a declaration from a so-called "pledgee" in Germany. He has to agree to cover all costs for the refugee in Germany in the coming years. The alleged sponsor in the case of the Rashed M. noted in the application and probably unspecified allegedly bears the name of a popular e-mail service. He is probably a crude invention.
In addition, the application documents of the Syrian appear to falsify the so-called pre-approval, with which the competent foreigners authority in Germany already submits its consent to a visa before examining the petition in Erbil. Without this approval from Germany there is no visa.
Rashed M. gets his visa, but he does not make the trip to Germany fast enough. At the beginning of January, the entry permit expires. Because shortly before those responsible in the Consulate General in another case encountered irregularities. A comprehensive internal review of visa matters follows, and the alleged corruption system flies up.
For a long time, almost nothing happened
However, although the circle of potential suspects in the Consulate General is small, the collected evidence for a long time no criminal proceedings. Neither the names of the smugglers, with whom the refugees came into contact, have been known so far. The helpers are still identified, who once again took their passports with the purchased visas from the Syrians who had arrived.
At the beginning of the year, a document examiner of the Federal Police working in the Consulate General sent an investigation report to supervisors in Germany at the beginning of the year. The Federal Police Headquarters in Potsdam, in turn, informed the Berlin public prosecutor's office in the summer. But only after research inquiries of the SPIEGEL on the topic came the thing really going.
Just over a year after the irregularities surfaced, the prosecutor's office instituted proceedings in October. The Department of Organized Crime recently discovered, on suspicion of smuggling foreigners against unknown, so a spokesman on request. However, a full investigation of the case is likely to be extremely difficult.
Why the process before the SPIEGEL searches remained so long is unclear. The Federal Police said that it had first been necessary further investigation and "larger file stocks" had been evaluated.
The Foreign Office said that they had already heard about irregularities in Erbil in December 2017 and had taken organizational measures to prevent further cases. In addition, the investigative authorities had been notified "immediately". However, the dubious visa award in Erbil did not have far greater consequences so far. According to SPIEGEL information suspected local forces continue to be employed in the Consulate General.
In any case, the hesitant enlightenment did not lie with the refugees, many of them described very openly in their asylum hearings how they came to Germany. In the fall of 2017, a member of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Syrian Dlbrien S., for example, described how a smuggler, who called himself "Kaka", had organized a German visa at Erbil's consulate general. For 3000 dollars. Thus he was, Dlbrien S., flown to Dusseldorf.
At the end of his hearing, S. said: "I want to stay in Germany, live here in peace and build an existence for me."
(Teller Report)
Zaman Al Wasl
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