Social security fraud? Thousands of suspected cases - doubts about the nationality of Ukrainian refugees

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Federal Office for Migration and Refugees: 5,609 suspected cases have now been received there

Photo: Jessica Lichetzki / dpa

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) is dealing with several thousand cases in which people with a Ukrainian passport may have improperly received social benefits in Germany.

The background to the proceedings are reports from immigration authorities.

People with recently issued Ukrainian passports are said to have reported there, but they only spoke Hungarian and may have dual citizenship.

This is why doubts about their origin are said to have arisen.

As EU citizens in Germany, Hungarians are not directly entitled to social benefits such as citizen's benefit; it is more difficult for them to receive them.

Ukrainians, on the other hand, receive temporary protection and benefits because of the Russian war of aggression.

Many cases from Bavaria

Last autumn, the Federal Ministry of the Interior asked the federal states to report dubious cases to the Bamf.

There have now been 5,609 suspected cases, most of which come from Bavaria (2,846), followed by Baden-Württemberg (1980), Thuringia (697) and Lower Saxony (81).

The Bamf coordinates the nationality checks and comes into contact with the Ukrainian and Hungarian authorities.

According to a spokesman, Ukrainian citizenship has been confirmed for 1,258 people and Hungarian citizenship has been identified for 208 people.

“If a person requests protection in the Federal Republic, clarifying their nationality is an elementary prerequisite for any possible granting of protection,” says the Bamf spokesman.

If Hungarian nationality exists, a residence permit in the sense of temporary protection cannot be issued, as EU citizens are not covered by the relevant directive.

The results of the tests are forwarded to the state authorities.

They should now decide how to deal with these cases and whether the checks will have consequences for the passport holders in terms of residence law.

Authorities in Baden-Württemberg discovered that many of the people in question had received their passports in the Ukrainian city of Berehove.

Berehove is just a few kilometers from the border with Hungary.

The Ukrainian embassy in Berlin left a query on the subject unanswered.

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