Overview
- Mayor Torsten Burmester initiated an internal administrative review after media published municipal files on the case.
- According to the documents, authorities stopped pursuing the man’s return despite an expulsion order from 2003, and his tolerated status was renewed over roughly 19 years.
- The family of ten received €7,250.77 in September 2023 under asylum-seeker benefits, with individual payments listed between €630 and €835.
- The city says it does not monitor how social benefit payments are used in individual cases.
- An FDP official criticized years without securing replacement travel documents, as city figures show 3,657 people with tolerated status in Cologne and 245 deportations in 2025, including 130 offenders.