In view of the high number of people fleeing to Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) is calling for a new approach to asylum procedures outside Europe to be seriously discussed. “Irregular migration must be ended so that we can do justice to those people who really need our help because they are fleeing war and displacement,” said Wüst South German newspaper.
On November 6th there will be a federal-state summit on asylum policy, among other things, but concerns are growing in the Union that the measures discussed so far to limit immigration numbers may not be enough. In 2022, in addition to around a million people from Ukraine, 244,000 people came from other countries, and a total of 300,000 may be expected this year. Up to and including September, more than 251,000 asylum applications were submitted in Germany, of which more than 233,000 were initial applications.
Wüst is therefore demanding that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) conclude agreements, similar to the EU-Turkey agreement, in exchange for financial commitments, so that refugees, after being caught in Europe, are brought directly to partner countries along the escape routes, “so that procedures and protection can be granted there Rules of law take place”.
“This is also a question of humanity” – this is how the Rwanda model is argued
The goal is to end deaths in the sea. “This means that those who cannot expect protection status do not come to our country in the first place. We have to support these partner countries financially. It is about agreements with performance and return,” said Hendrik Wüst.
Therefore, agreements similar to the EU-Turkey agreement should be concluded with other countries – for example in North Africa. “The partner state should declare its willingness to take back anyone who irregularly crosses the sea and land borders from their country towards the European Union.”
Migrants in the port of the Italian island of Lampedusa in September.
(Photo: Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP)
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr told the SZ that his party also supported the processing of asylum procedures in third countries outside the EU. “Such a regulation would create clarity about the protection status and prevent people from taking the dangerous route across the Mediterranean without prospects. This is also a question of humanity.”
Even left-wing SPD MPs, who, according to SZ information, are working on their own proposal paper on this, admit that the measures planned so far will not be enough to limit the numbers, relieve the burden on municipalities and prevent the mood in the country from completely deteriorating tilts. They point to models like those in Great Britain, where the government intends to send asylum seekers to Rwanda so that legal procedures can take place there, although a court in London initially rejected this.
Such models are also being discussed more and more clearly for Germany and the EU; at the end of such a procedure, asylum in Germany or other EU states could be approved or not. The hope is that this would deter a dangerous escape across the Mediterranean, for example, simply because of the prospect of no longer having a trial and a prospect of being tolerated in Germany. A major agreement is being discussed with a country in which people who have fled to Europe will receive accommodation for the duration of their procedure, or, as Wüst suggests, several agreements with the relevant countries of origin in order to hold the asylum procedures there – but it is The problem is often that the country of origin cannot be clearly identified due to destroyed passports.
Financing the accommodation of refugees remains a point of contention
However, there are human rights concerns with the Rwanda model. A London court ruled in June that the plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda in East Africa, regardless of their origin or personal background, without a right of return, was unlawful.
In principle, the idea of refugee centers in third countries, for example in Africa, is not new. They were already discussed in the EU in 2014. On the one hand, it was about the processing of asylum procedures in such facilities, which Egypt, for example, rejected, citing its sovereignty. There were also discussions with the government in Cairo about the repatriation of refugees, even if they are not Egyptian nationals, but these did not produce any tangible results. The EU is now set to hold talks again with Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
Before the federal-state summit on November 6th, it is also becoming apparent that the topic of finance is likely to become a major point of contention. The states would like to receive a permanent additional 1.25 billion euros and a flat rate of around 10,500 euros per refugee per year from the federal government. FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr made it clear in an interview with the SZ that there was very little scope for greater financial support for the states from the federal government. The funds for this would have to come from the budget, but at the same time the debt brake must also be adhered to. In addition, the federal government is already assuming a significant amount of costs that the states would actually have to bear, said Dürr.