Germany wants to agree to the Brussels asylum compromise. However, the EU migration pact will not solve the problems but will make them worse, warns Lucas Rasche from Misereor.
Interview: Charlotte Wirth
In view of the migration crisis, there are increasing calls for more intra-European border controls; Germany also wants these on the border with Poland and the Czech Republic. Has Schengen finally failed?
Intra-European border controls are not a new phenomenon. They have been around since the big refugee movement in 2015 to 2016 and are continuing. The legal framework of the Schengen Agreement is now being expanded very widely. Nancy Faeser’s border controls are primarily symbolic politics. It doesn’t help the municipalities. If a person submits an asylum application at border controls, this application must be processed in accordance with applicable law. Either the person is then returned, or they go through the normal asylum system and are consequently transferred to one of the municipalities. The demand for border controls must be viewed in the context of the election campaigns. European elections are coming up next year, and in Germany state elections in Bavaria and Hesse are just around the corner. Migration is a campaign issue.