Debate about migration
More rejections? – Government insists on confidentiality
The so-called security package of the federal government, which is soon to be discussed in the Bundestag, is not about rejections. (Archive image) Photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Could more non-EU foreigners be turned away at the German border? That is what the Union is demanding. How far the federal government wants to go here will be decided in the next few hours.
The Federal Government is taking a closer look at its announced review of additional options for Rejection of irregular migrants at German borders does not reveal their cards. Confidentiality has been agreed for the talks with the Union on migration issues that began last week, and this also applies to the question of what exactly is being examined in this regard, says a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
The Union faction has made an extension of the rejections a prerequisite for a possible continuation of these talks this Tuesday. The ministry intends to communicate to the CDU/CSU’s specialist politicians beforehand what the coalition considers feasible here.
Rejections at German land borders currently only occur in certain cases: if someone is banned from entering the country or does not apply for asylum. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, more than 30,000 people have been rejected since October. In mid-October 2023, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) ordered stationary controls at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Such controls, which are justified by irregular migration, have been in place at the German-Austrian land border since September 2015.
Söder: Reduce the number of first-time asylum applications permanently
The Bavarian Prime Minister, Markus Söder, said at the weekend in the ARD’s “Report from Berlin” that the Union’s demands would “dramatically and drastically reduce the number of refugees”. The number of initial asylum applications must be “significantly reduced to well under 100,000 in the long term, because we are really overwhelmed”. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said that the CSU leader’s proposals often have “a half-life that is very, very short”.
The debate about irregular migration and deportations has also become more intense due to several violent acts. In Solingen, three people were killed and eight others injured in a suspected Islamist knife attack at a town festival in August. A 26-year-old Syrian is in custody for the attack. At the end of May, an Afghan man’s attack in Mannheim caused horror. He injured five members of the anti-Islam movement Pax Europa and a police officer with a knife. The police officer later died.