Germany Repatriates Dozens Of Azerbaijani Nationals Amid Alleged Roundup

BAKU -- Germany has sent home dozens of Azerbaijani citizens amid reports about police raids across the country to locate possible illegal immigrants.

Azerbaijan's State Migration Service (ADMX) said on November 15 that 61 Azerbaijani citizens were brought to Baku from Germany aboard a charter flight a day earlier "in accordance with the agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union on the readmission of undocumented individuals."

"Twenty-two of them are men, 18 are women, and 21 are children," the ADMX's statement says.

Der Spiegel magazine in Germany reported on November 13 that German police had conducted raids and found many citizens of Azerbaijan who allegedly were "smuggled" into Germany illegally.

Also on November 13, German police detained the leader of the Dusseldorf-based Legat Integration Center, Alovsat Aliyev.

Aliyev's son, Turkel Rustamxanli, told RFE/RL that his father was detained while traveling from Dusseldorf to Berlin, adding that he is unaware of why his father was detained.

Aliyev's center helps Azerbaijani families to integrate into Germany.

With reporting by Der Spiegel