The asylum affair involving 42-year-old B. doesn’t tear off. The case is now being examined by the supervisory bodies in the state government. As we learned, there are possible legal violations of the guidelines for admission to the right to remain program.
According to FOCUS-online information, the city of Cologne has included the migrant from Bosnia-Herzegovina, who is subject to deportation, along with his family of nine in the program for prospects of remaining in 2022.

Cologne: Family B. still costs the state around 7,500 euros

B. now receives citizens’ allowances from the job center of a good 2,000 euros per month for three of his children because their residence status has changed. Furthermore, the health insurance company AOK Rheinland pays a total of 540 euros for the three offspring. In addition, the city’s social welfare office spends more than 5,000 euros per month on asylum seeker benefits for the father and the rest of the family, as these seven people are still tolerated.

Neither the job center nor the city of Cologne wanted to comment on the payments, citing data protection. Although Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) sharply criticized the administration’s actions, Cologne’s mayor Torsten Burmester (SPD) is still keeping a low profile.

“Emerged on a massive scale due to commercial and gang-related theft”

The Cologne immigration office should have deported B. by 2009 at the latest. At the time, the Bosnian had unsuccessfully sued against his expulsion. The judgment, which is available to FOCUS online in excerpts, states: “The plaintiff, who was born in 1984 and whose identity has not been established, was already a Bosnian citizen in a larger family group in the Federal Republic of Germany from at least 1994 to the beginning of 2000. Here he appeared heavily with family members for commercial and gang-related theft.”

In mid-2000, the family re-entered Germany (illegally). “The plaintiff appeared again under criminal law and pursued an obviously unfounded asylum request. Several family members were deported to Sarajevo in February 2003, while the plaintiff, among others, had evaded surveillance by the immigration authorities but claims to have left for Bosnia in 2003. However, he appeared under criminal law in the federal territory in 2005.”

B. is known to the police for various crimes

Instead of organizing his departure according to the judge’s ruling, the Cologne immigration authorities suspended the deportation. On the one hand, replacement passport papers were missing, and on the other hand, the Bosnian’s wife had already given birth to three children. For humanitarian reasons, the criminal father was not returned to his homeland. From then on, eight convictions were recorded. Forgery, theft, fraud.

B. appeared on the police computer 147 times for various offenses. However, such an entry initially says nothing about whether the person concerned was actually guilty of something. The Bosnian is said to have gone on a raid with clan members when he was still a child of legal age. As a result, many proceedings were discontinued.

According to FOCUS-online information, his wife was also put on record by the judiciary ten times – mostly for property crimes. Six years ago, the Bosnian woman was sentenced to a fine of 1,000 euros for theft.

Bosnier did not provide the required documents

To this day, B. and his wife continue to receive a tolerated stay. After five more children were born by 2018, the immigration office came up with the idea of ​​including the entire family in the right to remain program. Nobody seemed to worry much about the costs. Rather, the municipal employees in the Department for Perspectives on Remaining were concerned that Father B. had not bothered to obtain replacement papers for the family.

As early as August 2022, the immigration authorities had asked the migrant to finally help get a passport. Otherwise, it said in a statement, the family would have to be removed from the right to remain program. A step that the legislature provides for. The obligation to cooperate is anchored in law.

But nothing like that happened. The Bosnian neither obtained the required documents from the embassy nor was the family excluded from the right to remain program. On the contrary. For autumn 2023, an employee from the Cologne immigration office offered B. an appointment at an advice center run by independent refugee organizations in order to “work together on your residence permit in Germany”.

They also want to help ensure that “you meet all the criteria”. It didn’t matter that the man already had a criminal record. Just like the fact that B. has now been charged with fraud again. The immigration office repeatedly extended its toleration. And this despite the fact that the Bosnian still cannot produce the necessary identification documents.