Accelerated examination of asylum applications demanded by Faeser

– The Commission advocates an expansion of the asylum-seeking population within the EU.

The Traffic Light Administration and the Union were able to reach a consensus in their second discussion on immigration in Federal Ministry of the Interior No agreement was reached. Nevertheless, the federal administration is continuing with its reform plans. Thorsten Frei, the first parliamentary manager of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, explained in Berlin that the governing parties had not put forward a proposal that would lead to increased rejection at the border. The leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Friedrich Merz, declared the negotiations a failure.

The traffic light coalition wants to speed up the determination of national responsibility for asylum seekers

Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Schmidt (Greens) presented a model at the meeting that involves representatives of the federal states in order to speed up the transfer of asylum seekers who are already registered elsewhere to the responsible European states in the future. The traffic light coalition consisting of the SPD, Greens and FDP intends to pursue this strategy without the Union, the minister announced. Schmidt acknowledged: “If we want to establish this system efficiently, this will require the hiring of additional personnel so that the federal police can handle this in the long term.”

For the effective implementation of the planned acceleration, cooperation with the affected federal states is essential, said Schmidt. He has noted interest from various countries.

The CDU politician criticized the plans and stressed that they were not aimed at increasing rejection at the border, but at an accelerated process within Germany. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) expressed the opinion that detaining people in the border area would be more effective than pushing them back across the open border, as they would then try to enter at another point. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) criticized the fact that the Union representative had been interrupted despite the issues not yet being discussed.

The Union attempted to declare a state of emergency under Article 72 of the EU Treaty in order to deviate from regular European procedures. According to the Traffic Light Coalition, there is no legal basis for this.

Preferred detention centers near the border

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) is to implement the Dublin procedure more quickly in line with the planned changes by the traffic light coalition. In this process, the European country responsible for an asylum procedure is determined. Usually, this is the state in which the asylum seeker first arrived in Europe.

The federal police should look for available places of detention and, if necessary, call the relevant court to prevent disappearances. “In this case, rapid action by the federal states' judiciary is required. In addition, the federal states' detention centers must be available in sufficient numbers and, in particular, close to the border along the migration routes,” it was said. “Alternatively, a fixed assignment and residency requirement should be established if detention is not possible,” government circles further suggested.

The federal government wants to conduct negotiations to ensure that countries that are willing to take back migrants cooperate. This is currently often a problem. The administrative courts should quickly decide on any complaints from those affected against their transfer.

A notable innovation is the planned expanded role of the Federal Police. At present, deportations are the responsibility of the federal states, and the Federal Police only provides support. In the future, the Federal Police will be responsible for the deportation of people from Germany after the planned expedited procedure has been completed.

In addition, Germany will continue to rely on close cooperation with its neighbouring countries, for example through joint patrols and joint police centres at the borders. A comprehensive border closure beyond current practice carries the risk of jeopardising this cooperation, it said.

The Union has set the conditions for rejecting the meeting.

After the first meeting last week, the Union made comprehensive border references a prerequisite for further talks.

SPD parliamentary group vice-chair Dirk Wiese explained after the meeting: “The Union wanted to push through its idea of ​​comprehensive rejections without recognizing the legal consequences.” However, there are considerable concerns about European law, which his parliamentary group also shares. “The door remains open for further discussions about legally viable solutions,” emphasized Wiese.

He noted that the government's plans were a response to demands from local authorities not to accept people in Germany who are not entitled to protection. “It is regrettable to see that the Union is shirking its responsibility for our country and continuing to pursue a policy that is based on appearances rather than substance,” said the Green Party's first parliamentary secretary, Irene Mihalic.

The day before the meeting, Schmidt had already ordered temporary controls at all German land borders in order to more effectively curb the number of illegal entries. The additional controls are to begin on September 16 and will initially last for six months. The ministry cited the curbing of irregular migration and the protection of internal security against the current threats posed by Islamist terrorism and cross-border crime as reasons for the controls now ordered.

Rejections at German land borders currently only occur under certain circumstances: if someone is subject to an entry ban or does not apply for asylum. Rejections at German internal borders are generally only possible in the case of direct border controls.

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, more than 30,000 people have been turned back since October. In mid-October 2023, Schmidt ordered stationary controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. There have been controls at the German-Austrian land border since September 2015, which are justified by irregular migration. The newly ordered direct border controls affect the land borders with France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The debate about irregular migration and deportations has intensified following several violent incidents. 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 is in custody in connection with the incident.

Thorsten Frei has expressed his opposition to the plans of the traffic light coalition and stressed that they focus on accelerated procedures within Germany instead of increasing rejections at the border. Federal Interior Minister Horst Schmidt stressed the importance of cooperation with the affected federal states for the effective implementation of the planned acceleration.

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