migration
Migration summit: Countries want more money and control
Union faction leader Friedrich Merz (r) and CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt on their arrival at the Chancellery. photo
© Paul Zinken/dpa
Greater restrictions on irregular immigration to Germany have been discussed for weeks. Are the federal and state governments now taking concrete measures, including regarding controversial financial issues?
The Chancellor and the Prime Ministers will meet in Berlin this Monday. The main topic will be dealing with increasing immigration. Rhein called the federal government’s previous financing ideas unacceptable and warned that cities and municipalities should be left alone with problems. The countries are very much in agreement on this. The Prime Ministers reaffirmed their position in a joint resolution in October. Among other things, they are demanding from the federal government a general flat rate of 1.25 billion euros annually and at least 10,500 euros per migrant per year.
Daniel Günther: Action must now follow
In addition to financing issues, there is also discussion about whether cash payments for asylum seekers should be replaced by payment cards and benefits in kind. Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) demanded that procedures involving people from countries with a low recognition rate should be ended within three months, if possible. This also means that “of course we also have to carry out returns and that we very quickly differentiate between those who have the prospect of staying and those who cannot show any grounds for asylum.” The federal government has made many announcements and action must now follow.
Scholz exchanged ideas in the Chancellery with the leaders of the Union in the Bundestag. Those close to parliamentary group leader Merz said that the conversation was very good and the atmosphere was objective and constructive. The intensive exchange covered a wide range of migration topics. The conversation was not conclusive and should be viewed independently of the Prime Minister’s Conference – because the states only dealt with a partial aspect of the migration issues. Confidentiality was agreed on details.
Opposition should be involved
The Chancellor’s first meeting with Merz and the Prime Ministers Rhein and Stephan Weil (Lower Saxony, SPD) took place three weeks ago. Scholz wants to involve the opposition in the Bundestag in efforts to limit irregular migration because he is striving for a broad social consensus on this issue.
Weil expressed his rejection of a proposal by North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) to examine asylum procedures outside Europe. “I think it is conceivable that asylum procedures will begin in transit countries,” Weil told the Germany editorial network (Friday). “I can’t imagine that we would transport people against their will halfway across the world to a country to which they have no connection whatsoever.”
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann called for more controls and rejections of migrants at the German border. “We need a significant restriction on refugee access as quickly as possible,” said the CSU politician to the German Press Agency. Increased controls are necessary at all German borders based on the Bavarian model. The federal police must be able to reject asylum seekers.