The asylum turnaround is already faltering again after its launch

One day after the announcement of stricter border controls, the asylum turnaround in Germany has once again faltered. The Union left a meeting with Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) after a good two hours of disappointment and extremely harsh criticism. Contrary to the promises made by the traffic light coalition, no proposal was made “that actually leads to rejections at the border beyond the level achieved so far,” said parliamentary group manager Thorsten Frei (CDU), who led the negotiations for the Union. Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) was not present at the meeting, but later stated that the government was “obviously deeply divided internally” and was capitulating to the “challenge of irregular migration.” At the same time, all sides announced their willingness to hold further talks.

Faeser acknowledged that further action is needed to effectively reject refugees at the external borders, but at the same time referred to a model that the traffic light coalition had presented that complies with European law. However, this is based on the already known Dublin rules. According to these, an asylum application must be processed in the European country through which the asylum seeker reached Germany. In practice, however, this fails because the countries concerned do not want to take the people back. Austria and Italy are among these states, for example. Poland also criticized the federal government’s plans. “This approach is unacceptable,” said Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The Schengen Agreement is thus effectively suspended.

Asylum dispute: How Nancy Faeser will reach agreement with other EU countries

Faeser responded by announcing that the federal government would “approach the European partners at a high political level” and try to gain their approval. However, the minister left open why other governments should react to this.

In addition, Faeser calls for refugees to be “accommodated near the border” until their asylum status is clarified. Similar proposals have been made in the past. The then Federal Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer, wanted to set up around 40 “anchor centers.” The word anchor stands for “arrival, decision, repatriation.” Seehofer failed miserably in 2018. The Federal Police, for example, refused to guard the refugees.

Annalena Baerbock accuses the Union of a tactical maneuver

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) regretted the breakdown of the talks and accused the Union of pursuing tactical goals and refusing to find a constructive solution. She reiterated her demand that the new CEAS regulations for a common European asylum system be quickly implemented into national law. The aim is to process asylum procedures at the EU’s external borders and, if a warning is issued, to send refugees back to their homeland.

CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt said the traffic light coalition was not capable of taking effective measures to limit irregular migration. “We remain ready to agree on quick, effective measures to stop illegal migration, but not on placebo measures that have no real effect.”

The deputy human rights spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group, Derya Türk-Nachbaur, called for more foresight. She represents the Schwarzwald-Baar district and thus a border region. “Border controls are important, but not a panacea,” she explained. The measures must be “embedded in a comprehensive strategy that also includes other areas such as cybersecurity, disaster protection and the protection of women from violence.” A smart distribution of human and financial resources plays a central role in supporting the work of the security authorities in all these areas.