Germany’s domestic spy agency was alerted by the migration and refugee office to more than 10,000 cases of suspected security threats in 2017, more than four times as many as the previous year. The rise is partly due to greater cooperation between the two agencies.
The government revealed that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) last year alerted the national intelligence service (BfV) to a total of 10,597 cases of asylum seekers suspected of posing a threat to security or being involved in or planning an attack.
The previous year, only 2,418 cases were referred to the BfV, according to the German daily Die Welt. In 2015, despite large numbers of asylum seekers entering the country, Bamf alerted the BfV to just 571 cases.
The sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers apparently under suspicion is partly the result of better cooperation between the two agencies, the German news agency DPA reports. A Bamf spokesperson said people working in its regional offices and in asylum seeker reception centers had become more aware of security concerns.
In 2016, Bamf came under political pressure to provide police and intelligence agencies with information relevant to national security.
The BfV did not reveal how many of the referrals it received from Bamf in 2017 were unfounded.
The German domestic intelligence service (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz) has an anti-terrorist hotline +49(0)221/792-3366