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Photo: Patrick Seeger / picture alliance / dpa
According to a report by the RBB, more than 40 buildings in Berlin, Brandenburg and Thuringia were searched in the morning during a large-scale operation by the federal police against smugglers of Vietnamese origin.
It was about the suspicion of commercial smuggling of Vietnamese women and the mediation of so-called bogus paternity in 36 cases, reported the broadcaster.
Several hundred officials searched 38 objects in Berlin, one each in Potsdam and Spremberg and one in Sondershausen, Thuringia.
According to the report, the focus of the investigation is a 52-year-old Vietnamese woman living in Berlin.
The investigations were also directed against 18 men with German citizenship and 23 other Vietnamese women.
According to information from rbb24, several notaries from the Berlin area are said to be involved in the current cases.
According to the Court of Appeal, at least six disciplinary proceedings have been carried out against Berlin notaries because of abusive acknowledgments of paternity since 2017.
Alleged fathers with a criminal record
The 52-year-old is said to have given pregnant Vietnamese women men with German citizenship who, in return for a payment, agreed to recognize the paternity of the women’s children.
According to rbb information, some of the men are said to be criminals with a criminal record, accused of violent, drug, weapon and sexual offenses.
According to the findings of the Federal Police, the men received 3,000 to 6,000 euros for this.
The Vietnamese women have to pay 5000 to 10,000 euros.
Since 1993, children born out of wedlock have been entitled to German citizenship after their paternity has been recognized by a German citizen.
As legal guardians, the mothers receive a right of residence - at least until the child is 18 years of age.
Hessen calls for higher penalties for people smugglers
The state of Hesse demanded higher minimum penalties for people smugglers.
In future, perpetrators should face at least a six-month prison sentence, which can no longer be compensated for with a fine, said Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) with a view to the interior ministers' conference in Stuttgart that begins on Wednesday.
So far, there has been a risk of imprisonment of at least three months, fines are possible.
ala / AFP
