What happens after the failed migration summit?
Published: Wednesday, Sep 11th 2024, 14:32
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Irregular migration to Germany should be more strongly restricted. Almost all parties represented in the Bundestag, the German parliament, agree on this point. Only the Left Party MPs would probably not sign up to this.
The governing alliance of SPD, Greens and FDP - the so-called "traffic light" - is now backing even more border controls and has presented a proposal for accelerated returns of asylum seekers to other EU countries. The CDU/CSU, the coalition of the sister parties CDU and CSU, believes this is not enough. A meeting on Tuesday failed.
The most important questions and answers on the planned and proposed changes to migration policy:
What has the German government announced recently?
Following the fatal knife attack at a city festival in Solingen that left three people dead, changes have been agreed to help the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) clarify the identity of asylum seekers.
In addition, the aim is to ensure that a foreigner who has received protection in Germany generally has it revoked if they travel to their country of origin in between. However, exceptions are provided for here, for example if someone can prove that they have traveled to attend the funeral of a close relative and have therefore consciously accepted a risk. The German authorities must also become aware of the trip in the first place. This is not necessarily the case if someone travels to Syria via a third country, for example.
The so-called security package is to be discussed in the Bundestag for the first time this Thursday.
What is happening at the German borders now?
In the past, there were hardly any supporters of fixed border controls, which are not actually provided for in the so-called Schengen area, in the coalition of the traffic light coalition. Nevertheless, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has not only extended the controls at the land border with Austria, which began in 2015, several times. In mid-October 2023, she also ordered such temporary controls for the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland and notified the EU Commission.
This week, it then decided that from next Monday there will also be fixed controls at the remaining border sections. This concerns the land borders with France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Such controls can also lead to waiting times for commuters, tourists and freight traffic. However, there are no massive traffic jams at border crossings where such controls are already in place.
Why is Faeser doing this?
The number of asylum seekers has fallen. In the first eight months of this year, 160,140 people applied for asylum in Germany for the first time - 21.7% fewer than in the same period last year. Nevertheless, many local authorities feel overburdened when it comes to housing, integration and school and daycare places for new immigrants - also because the war refugees from Ukraine, who do not have to apply for asylum, also have to be cared for.
In addition, the debate about irregular migration has intensified following several acts of violence committed by immigrants. The fatal knife attack at a town festival in Solingen in August caused particularly great outrage. There, a man killed three people with a knife and injured eight others. The alleged perpetrator, a 26-year-old Syrian, is in custody. He should have been deported last year. The Islamic State terrorist group had claimed responsibility for the attack.
What will change as a result of border controls?
Measures against smugglers in other countries such as Serbia or Poland also play a role. Nevertheless, some observers attribute the decline in the number of asylum seekers to the additional border controls introduced in October. This is because the risk of being discovered and prosecuted increases for smugglers who bring people across the border without a visa.
Checks carried out directly at the border also enable refoulement. At present, however, only foreigners who have been banned from entering the country or who have not applied for asylum are turned back.
What does the Union want in terms of rejections?
The CDU/CSU parliamentary group is of the opinion that people who want to apply for asylum could also be turned back directly at the border. It refers, among other things, to Article 72 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This ensures that the EU member states are responsible for "maintaining law and order and safeguarding internal security". Ampel politicians find this legally questionable and fear that such a step could jeopardize the implementation of the painstakingly negotiated compromise for a reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS).
However, it is always possible that someone who has been turned back will then try to come to Germany again, possibly remaining undetected and then applying for asylum in Germany. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) refers to this when he says that this form of refoulement is less effective than Dublin returns.
What did the traffic lights offer instead?
Federal states that lie on a border should provide places for detention pending deportation close to the border and organize the permanent availability of administrative judges so that people for whose asylum procedure another EU state is responsible under the so-called Dublin rules can be returned there more quickly than before.
For its part, the German government wants to send employees from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) to ensure that the so-called Dublin procedures are processed quickly. The Federal Minister of the Interior is also offering to have federal police officers take over the entire repatriation process.
What good would that do?
In some cases, it would probably mean that deadlines are not missed, so that slightly more people actually have to return to the country that is responsible for their asylum procedure. In most cases, this is the first EU country in which an asylum seeker was registered.
However, this would not change the lack of willingness to cooperate on the part of countries such as Italy, which is currently blocking Dublin returns due to its challenges as an external EU border state. German courts have also ruled that even the deportation of recognized refugees to Greece is unreasonable due to the poor prospects of finding work or receiving state benefits.
And what about Germany's neighboring countries?
Poland and Austria have already criticized the Union's plans to reject refugees. However, the CDU/CSU is relying on a "domino effect" here, says Alexander Throm, the parliamentary group's domestic policy spokesperson. In other words, that fewer asylum seekers will arrive in the medium term if more EU states reject asylum seekers. It is about "the other EU countries protecting their borders and not simply allowing refugees to travel on to Germany", says the CDU politician.
The reform adopted in spring regulates the distribution of asylum seekers among EU member states with a "solidarity mechanism". It also provides for fast-track asylum procedures at the external borders for people from countries that are considered relatively safe. However, it will be some time before the reform takes effect. The member states must transpose it into national law by May 2026 at the latest.
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