THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge or BAMF) has issued a warning to asylum-seekers in the country to beware of dupers who may call them to demand money for a favourable result on their asylum request or to prevent their deportation.
“The Federal Office has been informed that persons are being threatened again by anonymous callers. The callers present themselves as employees of the Federal Office, or another authority and threaten persons with deportation, if a certain amount of money is not paid,” the agency said in a statement.r
“Please do not confirm or give your personal data or information in the event of such a call. Never pay money to blackmailers!”
The BAMF was forced to issue the public warning after many asylum-seekers reported that callers claiming to work with the agency had called them demanding bribe if they wanted their asylum application to be successful or to prevent their deportation. Many asylum-seekers had believed the callers paying sometimes hundreds of euros to the fraudsters only to find out later that they had been duped.
Analysts say asylum-seekers tend to believe such fraudsters because they come from countries where public officials are usually corrupt.
“Should you receive such a call, please inform our citizen’s service at the e-mail address service@bamf.bund.de or via our contact form on our website,” the BAMF statement said.
Femi Awoniyi
More information at: www.bamf.de
