Migrants with recognised refugee status are holidaying in the countries they supposedly “fled”, with their vacations funded by German taxpayers, a newspaper has found.
Newspaper Welt am Sonntag learnt that migrants are returning to countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Lebanon for holiday purposes, then travelling back to Germany where they continue to receive comfortable welfare payments.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has been aware for some time that some recognised refugees are taking leisure trips to the very spots they claim their lives are in danger.
The government body sent a written request to Berlin’s employment agencies in June, asking that they report the travel arrangements of migrants granted asylum holidaying in their countries of origin.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Employment Agency confirmed that “there are such cases” but reports that there is “no analysis or statistics on this subject and therefore we do not have information”.
The lack of information is down to data protection laws. But people who are familiar with the processes report that it is also happening in other regions of Germany.
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