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Dossier: Security in the asylum procedure ,
Information obtained from asylum procedures can help with criminal prosecution , , The Federal Office assists security authorities and law enforcement authorities
Source: AdobeStock | Семен Саливанчук
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees is usually the first point of contact for people who have fled violence, war and terror in their countries of origin and come to Germany. In order to enable the decision-makers to assess the need for protection, asylum seekers talk about their persecution history during the personal interview held in asylum procedures. Some of them actually talk about crimes they have allegedly committed themselves, or about crimes they have witnessed or learnt about by other means. This information is very helpful to the federal and state security authorities as it can contribute to the conviction and sentencing of criminals. The Federal Office therefore liaises closely with the security and law enforcement authorities at federal and state level and thus makes an important contribution to the security of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The fabricated story presented by Fawad shows, for instance, how a person who has committed crimes in the area of international criminal law in his country of origin can be identified on the basis of information provided by an asylum seeker. As such, any similarities with actual persons or events are purely coincidental.
During his asylum interview at a branch office of the Federal Office, Fawad explained why he and his family were forced to flee their North African home country. He explained that he was forced to move house several times with his family in the last few months before they fled, most recently to the country's capital. Shootings between different groups and air raids were an almost daily occurrence there. After one of the attacks carried out by the regime there, he said his bookshop had been destroyed, meaning he had stop working and became dependent on the financial support of relatives from that point forward.
Rashid
Rashid, whose name was mentioned during the interview held at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, had already undergone an asylum procedure at another of the Federal Office's branches at that time. There, he described how he had been persecuted by the domestic intelligence service in his country. However, he did not say anything about his previous involvement in the intelligence service.
In this context, Fawad mentioned his Uncle Rashid, who had worked as an officer at an intelligence department of the regime, had been a prison governor in one of the provinces, but later deserted. Fawad claimed that everyone in the North African country knew that this department was notorious for carrying out torture beyond the country's capital and that no one who went into the prison came out unharmed. However, Rashid's activities were never discussed within the family, out of fear of becoming a target of the regime themselves. Fawad said his uncle had always protected the family. However, after Rashid fell out of favour with the regime and other family members were attacked, the entire family decided to flee.
As the activities Fawad had described his uncle as having undertaken, during the interview, could possibly be relevant for the intelligence department under international criminal law, the Federal Office informed the competent law enforcement authorities.
The latter then launched investigations, which eventually led to the initiation of preliminary proceedings against Rashid. At the request of the law enforcement authorities, the Federal Office transmitted information from Rashid's asylum procedure, as well as from other asylum procedures, which related specifically to the aforementioned intelligence department of the regime.
International criminal law
The field of international criminal law is characterised to a large extent by its international dimension. Both offenders and victims tend to be third-country nationals for the most part. Moreover, the majority of international criminal offences are committed on the territory of third countries.
After the evidence firmed up that Rashid was under strong suspicion of having aided and abetted a crime against humanity in the form of torture and serious deprivation of liberty, the investigating judge at the Federal Supreme Court issued a pre-trial detention order against him. He was charged by the Attorney General at the Federal Supreme Court and finally sentenced to imprisonment.
The Federal Office examined the revocation of the previously granted protection status on the basis of the criminal judgment and established that there were grounds for exclusion of asylum, which include violations of international criminal law. The previously granted protection status was revoked.
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Content
- Security in the asylum procedure
- Exchange between security authorities
- Information obtained from asylum procedures can help with criminal prosecution
- This is how physical and technical document examinations work