Germany reports disappearance of 130,000 asylum seekers

Germany does not know the whereabouts of 130,000 asylum seekers who were registered last year, officials say.
The migrants did not appear at reception centres to which they had been directed, the government said in a written reply to a question.


This may be because they have moved to a different country, gone underground or registered several times.
Those missing represent about 13% of about 1.1 million asylum seekers registered in Germany in 2015.

A spokesman for the interior ministry said a series of measures approved by parliament on Thursday would help address the missing migrants problem, AFP news agency reports.

These include plans for them to receive an identity document on arriving in Germany so that the authorities can store personal data under a common database and avoid making repeated registrations.
The new rules also include measures to restrict family reunions for some migrants in addition to slackening the criteria used by the authorities to expel convicted foreigners.