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Reform of the asylum law: what proposals are on the table?
A sign with the inscription ‘Asyl’ hangs on a wall in a state initial reception for asylum seekers (LEA).
© Uli Deck / DPA
The federal government wants to make progress with the EU asylum reform – although there are concerns, especially among the Greens, about what is being negotiated at the European level. The CDU is now causing a lot of discussion and unrest with a much more far-reaching proposal.
A proposal from the Union causes a great deal of excitement: The parliamentary manager of the parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, wants the opportunity in Germany Applying for asylum is practically abolished. Instead, Europe should take in a contingent of refugees every year who have already been selected abroad, the CDU politician suggests. He receives encouragement from his own party. Migration researchers and politicians from all other parties represented in the Bundestag are against it. The most important questions and answers on the proposal and the ongoing negotiations on a European asylum reform:
Who sees a need for reform in asylum policy and why?
All. The Greens, the Left, parts of the SPD and organizations like Pro Asyl have been denouncing the situation at the EU’s external borders for years. They refer to reports of the violent rejection of those seeking protection and criticize the precarious living conditions in overcrowded initial reception centers, for example on the Italian island of Lampedusa or in Greece. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) relies primarily on the ongoing negotiations on a reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). This should ensure better registration and distribution of asylum seekers in Europe. Because at the moment, especially countries on the external borders and countries like Germany, where many asylum seekers want to go, are under pressure.
The Union points out that the planned reform would not mean fewer asylum seekers coming to Germany in the short term. In the first half of this year, around 150,000 people applied for asylum for the first time at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. That was significantly more than in the same period last year.
What exactly does the concept of Frei envisage?
He proposes abolishing the right of individual migrants to apply for asylum on European soil and replacing it with admission quotas. These 300,000 to 400,000 refugees per year should be selected directly from abroad and then distributed in Europe. In a guest article for the “FAZ” he wrote: “An application on European soil would no longer be possible, the receipt of social benefits and job opportunities would be completely excluded.”
Frei says women are currently being disadvantaged – is that true?
Yes. Irregular migration to Europe is dangerous. Those who made it are often said to have been robbed, forced to work, abused, or sexually abused along the way. In some cases, they have walked for days through impassable terrain, container locks or life-threatening crossings on overcrowded boats. This is particularly deterrent to women, or their families are opposed to girls and women taking this path. 67.8 percent of people who applied for asylum in Germany for the first time last year were male. In the 18 to 24 age group, the proportion of men among asylum seekers is even higher. Last year it was 83.5 percent.
And what about Frei’s claim that the poorest don’t stand a chance?
That’s partly true. Those poor enough to worry about where their next meal will come from are unlikely to be able to raise enough money to pay for a smuggler or a plane ticket to Belarus. However, some refugees work for years in a transit country such as Libya, Tunisia or Turkey in order to save enough money for irregular migration to Europe. Or the family puts together so that a young man can make the journey. He is then often burdened with the responsibility of sending money home or catching up with relatives.
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What are the weaknesses of Frei’s proposal?
Paragraph 16a of the Basic Law states: “People who are politically persecuted enjoy the right to asylum.” They would probably not be included in the quotas that the UN refugee agency would select according to Frei’s ideas. At least the guest post didn’t mention anything about it. When asked about it, Frei said: “In view of our history alone, it must remain our aim to specifically help these people. For example, part of the contingent could be reserved for dissidents who are being persecuted by dictatorial regimes.”
However, only very few people are admitted to Germany because of political persecution. Most are allowed to stay as refugees, or because deportation to their country of origin is currently not possible for various reasons. Thomas de Maizière (CDU) had rejected considerations for a comparable system change in asylum policy, as Frei has now proposed, when he was Federal Minister of the Interior, arguing, among other things, that illegal migration would be prevented by the creation of more legal routes for employment immigration and asylum yeah don’t stop.
Aren’t refugees from abroad already being taken in?
But. The admission of those in need of protection via quotas and the so-called resettlement already exist. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 5,687 people came to Germany last year. Around 30,000 people have been taken in from Afghanistan since May 2021, including local staff with their families and other Afghans who have been identified as particularly vulnerable. In addition, there have been almost 1,500 recordings of the voluntary European solidarity mechanism to relieve states with EU external borders, said a spokesman. Since 2022, around 2,000 human rights defenders and women’s rights activists have been taken in with their families, mainly from Russia, Belarus and Iran.
The AfD even considers the quotas suggested by Frei to be superfluous. Her domestic politician Gottfried Curio commented: “Since Afghanistan and Syria or Nigeria and Eritrea do not border the EU, there is no need to invent any artificial entitlement quotas for immigration.”
What are the chances that Frei’s idea will be implemented?
Minimal. Not only because the Union is in the opposition and there is currently no political majority for it in Germany. Such an approach is not currently being pursued at the European level either. Here you go a different way. Asylum requests from people with little chance of asylum or refugee protection should in future be checked at the EU’s external borders. The distribution in Europe should be better organized. However, the negotiations are still ongoing. At the same time, the EU Commission is trying to get more cooperation with countries like Tunisia so that they put a stop to the smugglers who send people across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.