German migration agency pushes for all refugees to be fingerprinted

In an effort to combat benefit fraud and prevent the use of multiple identities, Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has urged regional authorities to fingerprint all refugees currently living in Germany, according to a report by DW.

BAMF director Jutta Cordt told regional newspaper Passauer Neue Presse that it is the responsibility of Germany’s regional immigration offices to fingerprint refugees. “They have to take the fingerprints of all people who register with them and compare the data with the central register,” she said.

BAMF has been checking fingerprints with security authorities since August and, according to Cordt, was able to “rule out multiple identities in the asylum procedure”. BAMF also has a backlog of some 430,000 unprocessed applications for asylum.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  Germany  |  identity verification  |  refugee registration