German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière
Applicants for refugee status will receive an ID upon first contact with German authorities. Migrants already in Germany will begin receiving it from the end of February this year.
The document will include first name, date and place of birth, citizenship, gender, height, eye color, state of health, education, profession, and religion. The document will also contain a photo and fingerprints. All data will be entered into a specially created central database, which will be accessible to all interested agencies, including the police.
According to Deutsche Welle, the federal government hopes to solve several problems with the introduction of this ID. For instance, cases where migrants register multiple times in several cities under different names should be prevented. Information about education and professional skills will make it easier for the employment agency to find work for migrants.
In addition, the Federal Office for Migration hopes that the new document will facilitate the distribution of refugees across German localities. The ID will indicate the city or village in which the migrant must reside. However, many, especially those placed in rural areas, do not comply with this rule and move to large cities.
An important innovation is that only with this ID will migrants receive social benefits and be able to apply for political asylum – and only at the place of residence indicated in the document. Thus, the German authorities also hope that migrants who have illegally crossed the border will receive additional motivation to register.
The law was adopted on January 14 with the votes of the grand coalition consisting of the CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats. The opposition Greens and the Left Party abstained. At the end of January, the law will be submitted to the Bundesrat for consideration, and it is expected to come into force in February.