migration
The SPD and FDP warn countries to carry out more deportations
“The state must function when it comes to repatriating people who cannot stay with us,” says SPD leader Lars Klingbeil. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Chancellor Scholz surprised people when he called for deportations “on a large scale.” The Bundestag then passed a law that is intended to make the return procedures more efficient.
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai also called on the federal states to carry out deportations of foreigners who are obliged to leave the country more consistently. “The federal government will not be able to solve the problem on its own. Now that the legal conditions for more effective returns have been created, the states must now use them specifically and carry out more deportations,” said Djir-Sarai to the “Rheinische Post”.
Tug of war in the coalition
An extension of exit custody should prevent deportations from failing at the last moment in the future. After a long tug of war in the coalition, the Bundestag passed a corresponding law two weeks ago with a majority of the traffic light – even if some Green MPs voted against it. The law provides for procedural simplifications and tightening of rules to make deportations easier.
Scholz said in a “Spiegel” interview in autumn 2023: “We finally have to deport on a large scale those who have no right to stay in Germany.”
Djir-Sarai said that the EU Commission must do much more to conclude migration agreements at the European level with relevant countries of origin. He renewed the call for other countries to be classified as safe countries of origin, specifically mentioning Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. “It is regrettable that the Greens are still blocking themselves here,” said the FDP politician.
Progress in negotiations
SPD parliamentary group vice-president Dirk Wiese sees significant progress in the negotiations on new migration agreements with countries of origin. “Unfortunately, after 16 years of a Union-led Interior Ministry, we had to start almost from scratch when it came to migration agreements,” Wiese told the “Rheinische Post”.
“Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the Special Representative for Migration Agreements, Joachim Stamp, are working hard and with visible results to conclude bilateral migration agreements in the interests of both sides.” Special Representative Stamp (FDP) will be in office for one year on February 1st.
The Union, however, gave Stamp a bad report card. “The Federal Government Commissioner is fighting a losing battle. You cannot delegate such a task to an official with a handful of employees,” said the Parliamentary Managing Director of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei (CDU), to the “Rheinische Post”. “The Foreign Minister and, in certain countries, the Chancellor are called upon to address this major issue.” The information about the status of the migration agreements is “extremely sparse,” said Frei.