Asylum policy: Faeser in favor of quick checks – Union dissatisfied
Published: Tuesday, Sep 10th 2024, 18:40
Back to Live Feed
The "traffic light" government and the CDU/CSU failed to find a common denominator at their second migration meeting at the Federal Ministry of the Interior - but the federal government is still planning reforms. The First Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, explained in Berlin that the governing parties had "not submitted a proposal that would actually lead to rejections at the border beyond the usual level". CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz declared the talks a failure.
Ampel wants to clarify national responsibility for asylum seekers more quickly
At the meeting, which was also attended by state representatives, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) proposed a model for bringing asylum seekers who have already been registered elsewhere to the European countries responsible for them more quickly in future. According to the Minister, the coalition government of SPD, Greens and FDP now wants to pursue the plans without the CDU/CSU. Faeser conceded: "If we want to establish this as a good system now, we need more staff so that the federal police can cope with it in the long term."
Faeser said that cooperation with the affected federal states was necessary for the concrete implementation of the planned acceleration. She had already identified interest in this from some of the federal states.
CDU politician Frei criticized that the plans were not aimed at additional deportations at the German borders, but at accelerated procedures in Germany. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) said that detaining people near the border would be more effective than pushing them back across the green border, where it was to be expected that those pushed back would then attempt to enter the country again elsewhere. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) criticized that the Union representatives had "stood up, although we have not even discussed many issues yet".
The Union had wanted to declare an emergency by invoking Article 72 of the EU Treaty in order to be able to deviate from normal European procedures. According to the traffic light coalition, there is no legal basis for this.
Places of detention as close to the border as possible
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) is to operate the so-called Dublin procedure more quickly in future according to the changes planned by the traffic light. This determines which European country is responsible for an asylum procedure. In many cases, this is the country on whose territory those seeking protection first set foot on European soil.
In the meantime, the federal police should check whether there are any free places of detention and, if necessary, apply to the competent court for detention so that those affected do not go into hiding. "The judiciary of the federal states must act quickly here. A sufficient number of detention places must also be available in the federal states, preferably close to the border along the migration routes," it said. "Alternatively, a fixed allocation and residence requirement should be provided if detention is not an option," government circles added.
The German government wants to seek talks so that the countries that are supposed to take back migrants cooperate. Because this is where things often get stuck at the moment. The administrative courts are to decide swiftly on any appeals by those affected against their transfer.
Greater role for the federal police
One real innovation is the planned greater role for the federal police. Until now, deportations have been the responsibility of the federal states, with the federal police only providing support during the process. In future, the federal police will be responsible for removing people from Germany at the end of the planned accelerated procedure.
"In addition, Germany continues to rely on close cooperation with neighboring countries, for example through joint patrols and joint police centers at the borders. Direct refoulement at the borders beyond the current practice would massively jeopardize this cooperation," it continued.
Union set conditions for meeting
After an initial meeting last week, the Union had made it a condition for a further meeting that comprehensive rejections at the borders would also be discussed.
Dirk Wiese, deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, said after the meeting: "The CDU/CSU wanted to go headlong into the wall with their idea of nationwide refoulement." However, there are massive concerns about this under European law, which his parliamentary group also shares. "However, the door remains open for further talks on legally secure solutions," Wiese emphasized.
He said that the government's plans were a response to demands from local authorities not to distribute people without a right to protection in Germany in the first place. "It is a tragedy that the CDU/CSU is not living up to its responsibility for our country and continues to pursue a policy of show effects without substance," said Irene Mihalic, First Parliamentary Secretary of the Greens parliamentary group.
On the day before the meeting, Faeser had already ordered temporary controls at all German land borders in order to more strongly curb the number of unauthorized entries. The additional controls are to begin on September 16 and initially last for six months. In addition to limiting irregular migration, the ministry also cited the protection of internal security against current threats from Islamist terrorism and cross-border crime as reasons for the controls that have now been ordered.
Refoulement at German land borders is currently only possible in certain cases: if someone has been banned from entering the country or has not applied for asylum. Refoulement at Germany's internal borders is only possible where there are controls directly at the border.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, more than 30,000 people have been turned back since October. In mid-October 2023, Faeser ordered stationary controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Such controls, which are justified on the grounds of irregular migration, have been in place at the German-Austrian land border since September 2015. The newly ordered controls directly at the border concern the land borders with France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The debate about irregular migration and deportations had also intensified due to several acts of violence. In Solingen, three people were killed and eight others injured in a suspected Islamist knife attack at a town festival in August. A 26-year-old Syrian man is in custody for the crime.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic