Fewer failed asylum seekers are being deported from Germany to their home countries and according to the German government it is doctors who are not allowing them to carry out deportations.

The German Interior Minister Thomas De Maizière is causing controversy among medical professionals. The Interior Minister has claimed that the reason the German government is having such a huge struggle deporting illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers is because doctors won’t clear the migrants for travel.

The comments have led to outrage among doctors who claim Mr. De Maizière is indirectly claiming the doctors are purposely creating certificates to prevent the deportations reports Suddeutsche Zeitung.

It has recently been reported that over 500,000 migrants in Germany have failed in their asylum claims, yet very few are optimistic about them leaving the country. There have been many reasons suggested for why the migrants, who are now considered illegal migrants, have been deported in small numbers.

One reason cited has been the extensive costs associated with deportations, with the average cost per migrant in some states being up to 50,000 euros. Head of the German police union, Rainer Wendt has blamed pro-migrant groups like NGO pro-asyl and their team of lawyers who work hard to help migrants avoid deportation, regardless of their asylum status.

The government has added the problem with doctor notes to the list claiming that the same doctors keep popping up and writing certificates for migrants claiming that they are unable to travel due to medical issues. The Interior Ministry has claimed that the doctors make a “presumptive diagnosis” and do not follow proper medical procedure when writing the medical notes for the migrants.

The German Medical Association has fought back against the allegations saying that the government has little real evidence to suggest any of the doctors had acted in a manner that would suggest they were forging the certificates. President Frank Ulrich Montgomery said that there is no nation wide data presented by the government that back up the claim that doctors are helping migrants avoid being deported.

Instead, Montgomery said, the government should be looking at ways to help doctors carry out their jobs by giving them more time to diagnose migrants, more funding and more support. Only with more time, he said, could doctors examine the full physical and psychological profile of the migrants and talk to eye witnesses who personally know the migrants.

The German government is also worried about the growing number of underage asylum seekers, who are often impossible to deport due to their age. The security services fear that underage migrants are also prime targets for recruitment by radical Salafist preachers who have been caught aiding terror groups like the Islamic state.