Migration: Baerbock open to preliminary asylum checks at the EU’s external borders

migration
Baerbock open to preliminary asylum checks at the EU’s external borders

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has shown herself open to preliminary asylum checks at the EU’s external borders, but insists on compliance with human rights standards. Asylum procedures at the external borders are “a curse and an opportunity at the same time,” the Green politician told the Funke media group’s newspapers. “Border procedures are highly problematic because they interfere with civil liberties.” But the EU Commission’s proposal is the only realistic chance of achieving an “orderly and humane distribution process” in an EU of 27 very different countries in the foreseeable future.

“That’s why we’re negotiating hard in Brussels to ensure that nobody gets stuck in border procedures for more than a few weeks, that families with children don’t get caught up in border procedures, that the core of the right to asylum isn’t eroded.” When asked whether her party would go along with this, Baerbock said: “It depends on whether our European human rights standards are respected.” The line is very thin, critical questions are important.

“But not acting would have bitter consequences,” warned Baerbock. Without a common European response, the trend is already everywhere towards “more isolation, more pushbacks, more fences”. And without order at the external borders, it is only a matter of time before one EU country after another starts talking about internal border controls again.

On June 8th, the EU interior ministers want to deal with the topic again in Luxembourg. The EU states are currently trying at full speed to agree on the main features of a reform of the European asylum system, which has been the subject of heated debate for years. In particular, the question of whether there should be preliminary checks on asylum applications at the European external borders and a possible distribution of refugees in Europe is controversial. There is room for checking immediately after registration in external border states whether someone has a chance of protection or not. The background are proposals by the EU Commission from 2020.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) spoke out in favor of a preliminary asylum check at the external borders at the beginning of the month.

Family Minister: No asylum check for minors

According to Family Minister Lisa Paus, the federal government wants to exempt unaccompanied minors and families with children under the age of 18 from the planned asylum checks at the EU borders. “As Minister for Family and Children, I very much support the fact that we in the federal government have agreed to generally exclude families with children under the age of 18 and all unaccompanied minors from the planned asylum procedures at the EU borders,” said the Green politician the German Press Agency.

This is the position that Germany is fighting for in Brussels in the negotiations to reform the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), Paus added. Appropriate accommodation and care for children with their specific needs cannot be guaranteed in border procedures. “Sending children under the age of 18 in border procedures and thus in a highly precarious situation would mean an enormous threat to the well-being of the child.” The family minister spoke of the risk of renewed traumatization.

In the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”, FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr spoke out in favor of including minors in such procedures. “At first glance, I don’t understand why there should be rigid age limits. Uniform rules are needed, and these can also apply to under-18s,” he said.

dpa