OREANDA-NEWS. Over the past few weeks, German security structures have registered an increase in the number of illegal immigrants arriving in the country from Belarus. Since the beginning of the year, the federal police has identified about 250 cases of illegal entry of persons from the territory of Belarus, almost all of them were Iraqi citizens, the German newspaper Die Welt wrote on Tuesday, August 31, citing an internal report prepared by the security agencies.

As noted in the document, in many cases, illegal immigrants found themselves in Germany with the help of smugglers. Some reported that the people who brought them to Germany, upon arrival, filmed them on video and forced them to say in English: «I am in Germany». Other refugees indicated that upon arrival in Germany, they were required to take a selfie.

German authorities suggest that this can be used by gangs of smugglers as «advertising», and also serve as a permit to pay the remaining amount of money for smuggling illegal immigrants. The report also predicts that the majority of illegal migrants who have entered Lithuania, Latvia or Poland from Belarus do not plan to stay there. Their ultimate goal, apparently, is Germany — «already due to the number of Iraqi citizens living here, which is much higher than the figures of other European countries».

As indicated in the document, 220,778 Iraqi citizens are officially registered in Germany, 25,896 in Sweden. In addition, in 2020 and 2021, the majority of Iraqi asylum applications in the European Union were submitted in Germany, it is noted further.