A catchphrase that is perfect for the news channels: “Immediate arrest”. It is contained in a plan for migration policy that Bavaria’s head of government Markus Söder (CSU) has prepared for the conference of prime ministers this Thursday. Specifically, the paper states that South German Newspaper “Criminals and dangerous individuals who are required to leave the country and who cannot be deported are to be taken into immediate arrest until they voluntarily return to their country of origin.”
The catchphrase “immediate arrest” is new in the migration debate, and it has quickly become a popular topic in media reports. But in terms of content, Söder has only repeated a demand that came from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag more than a week ago. There they spoke of “departure arrest”, but the idea behind it is formulated almost word for word as Söder has now. Foreign criminals and dangerous people would have to remain in arrest “until they voluntarily return to their homeland”, according to a parliamentary group motion from June 11, which did not find a majority in the Bundestag.
When asked by SZ, Union parliamentary group vice-chair Andrea Lindholz (CSU) stressed that the arrest is only intended for serious criminals who have already served their prison sentence, and not for those who are trying seriously but unsuccessfully to obtain exit papers in their home country. In particular, in the case of attacks on police officers, “every conviction, regardless of the sentence,” should lead to deportation, says Lindholz.
The number of deportations in Bavaria is 40 percent higher than last year
At the Prime Minister’s Conference, CSU leader Söder is now making a new attempt with the Union’s arrest idea. “In the eyes of the population, the functionality of our community is in question,” says his migration paper. Söder wants to counteract this impression. In addition, he has succeeded in positioning himself as a driver in the national migration debate with a pointed term. Even in the discussion about the payment card for asylum seekers, he was trying to show himself to be the most determined of all state leaders. The Bavarian card is “harder” and comes “faster” than elsewhere, Söder said at the time. And it is hardly by chance that his Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (also CSU) placed the latest Bavarian deportation figures in the middle of the discussions after the brutal knife attack by an Afghan, as a result of which a police officer died in Mannheim. According to Herrmann, the number of deportations from Bavaria between January and April 2024 was around 40 percent higher than in the same period last year.
Söder’s arrest demand is now receiving more attention than the same demand from the Union faction, whose chairman is Friedrich Merz. This imbalance is probably not only due to the CSU leader’s skilful use of terms – but also to the fact that Söder’s every interference in federal political matters is checked for traces of chancellor ambitions. In the meantime, he is once again flirting quite aggressively with the Union’s candidacy for chancellor. “The probability that it will be one of us is given,” says Söder about himself and CDU leader Merz.