Undocumented laborers in Göttingen and Goslar/ Shut-down of a restaurant and expulsion of a Thai sex worker

In the past week, several incidents involving illegal immigration and employment have been reported in the districts of Göttingen and Goslar, Lower Saxony, Germany.

On January 12, 2025, four Asian workers were apprehended at a restaurant in Bad Harzburg. The Goslar Police Inspectorate processed the workers, who refused to cooperate and did not have identification papers. The immigration authorities of the district were informed and will decide on further measures regarding the apprehended workers.

In a separate incident, two employees in a Southeast Asian restaurant in the Osterode area were found without a residence permit allowing them to work in Germany. The immigration authorities of the city and district of Göttingen were informed and will decide on further measures in this case.

The following day, a Thai prostitute was apprehended at a Göttingen hotel during a joint inspection with the Göttingen Police Inspectorate. After consultation with the competent immigration authority in Lübeck, she was taken into custody by the police. The deportation proceedings were initiated against her, and she was deported by plane to Thailand following her apprehension. The deportation took place on an unspecified date after her apprehension on January 13, 2025.

It is important to note that the Thai prostitute had been illegally in Germany since 2019. The Financial Control of Illegal Work of the customs is currently investigating the restaurant owner in Bad Harzburg for human trafficking and aiding and abetting the employees' crimes.

In a related development, the Main Customs Office of Braunschweig conducted inspections in the districts of Göttingen and Goslar from January 6-15, 2025. No publicly available information or reports detail any persons arrested in the last nine days by the Financial Control Office of the illegal labor market at the Braunschweig Customs Main Office in the gastronomy and erotic sectors in the Göttingen and Goslar districts for immigration law violations.

On January 16, 2025, a restaurant in Göttingen was closed by its owner as all six Asian employees found did not have work permits. Criminal proceedings were initiated against the employees and employers in both cases (Göttingen and Osterode) on the respective dates.

The deportation of the Thai prostitute and the apprehension of the illegal workers serve as a reminder of the importance of adhering to immigration laws and regulations in Germany. The authorities continue to take action against those who violate these laws, ensuring that the country maintains a secure and orderly immigration system.