"The @BAMF_Dialog arrival center in Bremen will no longer make any decisions on granting asylum until the end of the investigation. This is Minister [Horst] #Seehofer's decision," BAMF posted on its Twitter account.
The corruption scandal around BAMF erupted in April, after it was revealed that a former official from the institution's Bremen regional office and his four colleagues took bribes in exchange for granting around 1,200 refugees asylum, although they did not meet the criteria.
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Germany has become a major destination for thousands of migrants and refugees from the Middle East amid instability caused by the civil war in Syria and the activity of the Daesh* terrorist group in the region. According to BAMF, between 2014 and 2016 Germany received over one million asylum applications, more than any other country in the European Union. As a result of the influx, the German authorities have tightened migration controls.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia