The federal government wants to increase the number of deportations by giving the police and authorities more powers. But the city council and the interior minister from the Union remain skeptical; they believe the measures do not go far enough.
According to the German Association of Cities and Interior Ministers from the Union, the tightening of the deportation rules initiated by the Federal Cabinet will have little effect. They do not initially expect a significant increase in deportations.
“The goal of returning people without prospects of staying in Germany more quickly is correct. But these measures will only become effective when the countries of origin also accept these people,” said Managing Director Helmut Dedy to the editorial network Germany. To do this, reliable take-back agreements would have to be concluded quickly with the respective countries of origin.
The federal government wants to increase the number of deportations by giving the police and authorities more powers. The draft law passed on Wednesday provides, among other things, to extend the maximum duration of detention on departure from 10 to 28 days, to no longer announce deportations in advance and to expand the police’s powers to search communal accommodation. The plans still have to be discussed and approved by the Bundestag.
Stübgen: “Problems not solved”
Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) admitted that the provisions in the law will make deportations easier in individual cases and speed up administrative procedures. “The number of deportations will not be significantly increased by this law,” Stübgen told “Welt”.
Deportations usually fail because passport papers are missing or the countries of origin do not want to take their compatriots back. These problems would not be solved by the bill.
New Deportation regulations in criticism
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) was relieved that “the federal government is finally getting going on the issue of migration.” But the law is not a panacea. Baden-Württemberg’s Minister for Justice and Migration, Marion Gentges (CDU), sees it similarly. With regard to the draft law, she spoke of a “repatriation defense”.
The mood among the Greens is completely different: many members of the traffic light party criticized the new regulations as a disproportionate interference with the fundamental right to freedom and privacy. The new co-head of the Green youth organization “Green Youth”, Katharina Stolla, called the plans “unconstitutional” in advance. In an interview with the daily topics Green Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck defended the new regulations as a “tough but necessary” step.