21 January 2008
Lagos — Chief Superintendent of the German Federal Office for the Coordination of Returns, Michael Dewenter has disclosed that several Nigerians in Germany are using Liberian passport.
He said 90 percent of those illegally living in Germany who are claming to be Liberians are Nigerians while only few are truly Liberians. Dewenter made the disclosure Tuesday when he led a German-European Union delegation to meet with authorities at the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN) in Monrovia.
He said the nationality of those Nigerians claiming to be Liberians was unearthed through an interview conducted by the Liberian Embassy in that country. Dewenter told BIN authorities that his country was finding it very difficult to repatriate those illegal immigrants because they were using Liberian passport.
He said his delegation was in the country to find a means by which BIN could send a fact finding team to Germany to further determine whether those claiming to be Liberians are truly Liberians. Dewenter said following the identification of the illegal immigrants, those identified as Liberians would be repatriated.
At the same time, the Chief Superintendent of the German Federal Office for the Coordination of Returns said 70 out of 100 illegal Liberian immigrants in Germany would shortly be repatriated while the remaining 30 are still being interviewed.
For his part, BIN Commissioner Chris Massaquoi attributed the illegal possession of Liberian passport to the 14-year civil war. However, he said his administration was doing everything possible to retrieve Liberian documents from foreigners.
He called on the German Government to provide technical support to BIN so as to help it stop foreigners from using Liberian passports. Dewenter has asked BIN authorities to list the immediate assistance it needs in order to provide them.
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