Dresden – In July, emergency services near Dippoldiswalde (Saxony) detained a Seat Alhambra with 15 presumably Turkish citizens on board. Ukrainian smuggler Valerii L. (27) has now been sentenced to three years in prison.
The floor of the vehicle was covered in torn identification cards. Who the 15 people are and where they are today is unclear. And this is not an isolated case!
Heiko Teggatz (50), president of the Federal Police Union, told BILD: “It often happens that we find torn documents in smugglers’ vehicles. Local residents and even mushroom pickers also report discoveries of passports in the forest. Around 95 percent of those detained do not have proof of identity.”
Heiko Teggatz (50), president of the Federal Police Union
Photo: DPolG
Possible reason: Refugees need identification cards to travel from their home countries to the EU. On the other hand, anyone caught with their documents in Germany can also be deported more easily.
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In this Alhambra, Ukrainian Valerii L. (27) smuggled 15 people who presumably came from Turkey
Photo: Federal Police Inspectorate Berggiesshübel
Heiko Teggatz: “Especially considering the situation in the Middle East, there is a risk that people who are not planning anything good in Germany will mix with the refugees. I wish the border controls now in place had been possible much sooner.”
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Dozens of refugees are currently rounded up every day in Saxony and Bavaria – after entering the country they are searched by the Federal Police. “Even babies and young children are searched in the presence of their parents to find documents or money. We also found torn documents in bushes and rubbish baskets at the scene of the attack”, says Steffen Ehrlich, 61, from the Federal Police Inspectorate.
When establishing identity, officials must rely on information provided by refugees. “Plus, everyone has fingerprints. They are stored and can be compared across Europe and even internationally. “So far, this is our only way of determining who the people who entered the country are,” says Heiko Teggatz.