In view of the overburdening of many municipalities, the traffic light coalition is taking a stricter line in asylum policy. The federal government is striving to have asylum procedures carried out at the EU’s external borders in the future, said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on Sunday evening on ARD. Corresponding plans are currently being negotiated at EU level. You see a “historical momentum” for an understanding, said Faeser. Other countries would then have to take in refugees from the border states if they “meet the protection quota”, i.e. if they have a realistic chance of being recognized as being in need of protection.
The interior minister is under pressure to act before the federal government’s refugee summit with the prime ministers planned for May 10. States and municipalities have been criticizing the overburdening of refugees for months and are demanding additional billions in aid from the federal government. The plans mentioned by Faeser go beyond what was agreed in the coalition agreement. Although it is stated there that one wants to “effectively reduce irregular migration” in general, there is nothing there about asylum procedures on the fringes of the EU.
The Greens were open to Faeser’s plans, but formulated conditions. Access to individual and constitutional asylum procedures and humane accommodation must also be ensured for the future, said the Greens parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Britta Hasselmann. Asylum procedures at the EU border had been criticized by the Greens in the past.
“We are committed to a permanent, reliable solidarity mechanism and fair asylum procedures,” said Hasselmann. The reform of the EU asylum law should create a common system in which responsibility and responsibilities would be distributed fairly. The Greens wanted an EU that “proves the ability to act and humanity in asylum policy”. The federal government is facing extremely difficult negotiations in Brussels, said Hasselmann. “So far nothing has been decided.”
The FDP supports Faeser. “According to our ideas, the European asylum agency EUAA could carry out a preliminary examination,” said Stephan Thomae, the parliamentary manager of the FDP parliamentary group, on Monday of the SZ. In this way, it could be determined whether there were any indications of people’s claims for protection and whether further distribution within the EU was an option. “The Geneva Refugee Convention and the right to asylum are not intended for all other cases.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior said that according to the Federal Government’s ideas, the protection status of certain groups of people at the EU’s external border should be checked. However, there must be exceptions, especially for children or young people.
Almost 218,000 people applied for asylum in Germany last year, significantly more than in other EU countries. In addition, Germany has taken in more than a million people from Ukraine since the Russian war of aggression began a year ago.