Germany Passes Legislation to Expedite Deportation of Asylum Seekers
The German Cabinet gave the green light to legislation to streamline the deportation process for people whose asylum request has been rejected.
This proposed law includes provisions for extended detention periods for those whose asylum requests have been denied, heightened scrutiny through stricter ID checks, and enhanced authority for the police.
In a statement issued yesterday, October 25, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior said that, under the new legislation, several changes have been made, the most important of which is the extension of the maximum length of pre-deportation detention from ten days to 28 days.
With the draft law, we ensure that people without the right to stay have to leave our country more quickly. In this way, we strengthen social support for accepting refugees in Germany.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser
Minister Faeser also revealed a comprehensive set of restrictive measures to facilitate quicker and more numerous deportations. She emphasised the importance of upholding humanitarian responsibilities, particularly in the case of 1.1 million Ukrainian refugees who seek protection from war and terror.
According to her safeguard, the fundamental right to asylum, it is imperative to curtail irregular migration substantially.
She further stated that anyone without a legitimate claim to remain in the country must depart. This year, Germany has witnessed a 27 per cent increase in the number of deportations compared to the same period last year, yet there remains a substantial imperative for further reforms.
The new measures make the expulsion of individuals associated with criminal organisations considerably more streamlined, removing the requirement for an individual criminal court conviction.
Moreover, German authorities can search apartments for data storage devices and documents, primarily to confirm a person’s identity.
Under specific legal conditions, the possibility of entering additional rooms within shared accommodations is introduced. This is aimed at ensuring that individuals subject to deportation are indeed located within their shared accommodations.
In addition, entry and residence ban violations are now a distinct basis for detention pending deportation. Another change includes that deportation will no longer be forewarned for individuals in custody who are mandated to leave the country.
Thus, the one-month notice requirement for deportations following at least one year of toleration is set to be eliminated, with exceptions applicable to families with children under 12 years of age.
Last year, there were 244,000 asylum applications in Germany, while the figure is expected to increase to 300,000 in the current year.
Data provided by the Interior Ministry show that over 255,000 people in Germany are obliged to depart the country. However, roughly 205,000 of these individuals have a “tolerated status,” which means they cannot be deported. The same source reported that between January 1 and the end of September, 12,000 individuals had been deported.