BERLIN-Germany’s cabinet approved plans to issue asylum seekers a unified identity card linked to a centralized data system in bid to keep better track of who is entering the country.
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Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere had previously said that Germany should expect 800,000 asylum seekers in 2015, although the media and other groups had hinted that the number may be much higher.
The move highlights how the government is stepping up efforts to better manage the heavy inflow of people and set tighter conditions for asylum seekers as Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced heavy criticism about her open arms migrant policy toward migrants.
The number of arrivals for the year so far was more than four times the total for all of 2014 with Germany now the top European destination for people fleeing conflict, repression and misery in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
It has been confirmed that the cards will hold information on refugees’ date and place of birth, nationality and gender, as well as a photo and details on height and eye colour.
Registration centers would also take fingerprints.
De Maiziere noted that the speed of processing asylum applications would accelerate in the coming months, referring to yet another 4,000 jobs created with the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in response. The government hopes to start introducing the identity cards by February.
The data will be collected during refugees’ first contact with the authorities and will be saved in a central register which will be made available to all relevant authorities.
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In order to avoid registering the same person twice, centres will be equipped with finger print matching systems.
