Germany must remain open to the world but not naive, says Joachim Stamp, the federal government’s migration commissioner. He stresses the need for orderly migration and criticizes the lack of consistency, particularly regarding asylum seekers traveling to their home countries.
Joachim Stamp has warned asylum seekers against traveling to their home countries for leisure or vacation purposes. The FDP politician told the “Bild” newspaper, “Germany must remain open to the world, but not naive.”
Authorities must ensure that individuals who have “applied for protection here but travel to their home country for a vacation immediately lose their protection status and can no longer stay in Germany. Period.” Stamp emphasized that the federal government is “working tirelessly to bring more order to migration.”
“The lack of consistency here is damaging,” he said, referring to reports of asylum seekers visiting their home countries. Stamp called for federal, state, and local authorities to act decisively together.
The issue gained attention following an RTL television report claiming that German travel agencies use a trick to issue visas for travel to Afghanistan, even though the customer has applied for protection in Germany. According to the report, there are 400,000 Afghans living in Germany, including 60,000 with the “blue pass,” which prohibits return to their home country. Unauthorized returns are often facilitated using “double-entry visas,” where the passport is not stamped, but the visa is issued as a loose sheet of paper that can be easily discarded before returning to Germany.
As there are no direct flights from Europe to Afghanistan, travel often occurs via third countries like Turkey or Iran, making it difficult for German authorities to verify the actual travel destination.
International troops began their withdrawal from Afghanistan in the spring of 2021 after decades of military presence. The Taliban swiftly took control of large parts of the country, recaptured the Afghan capital Kabul on August 15, 2021, and declared an Islamic Emirate. The third anniversary of this event was marked nationwide with military parades and gatherings by the ruling authorities.
