German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Thursday outlined her legislation to deport failed asylum seekers, saying it was a necessary part of addressing concerns about immigration.
Migration has become a major political issue for Germany’s coalition government, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) vowing to take a harder line as the number of migrants arriving has soared.
Why are the changes being made?
Faeser told lawmakers in Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, that the legislation was fundamental to society’s acceptance of migration.
“Anyone who has no right to stay must leave Germany,” she said. “We must be able to enforce this principle, otherwise we will harm our community.”
The minister said it was remarkable that Germany had gone from a nation that caused two world wars to a country where people seek protection.
“For us to be this country, we also need clear rules and laws. This means that those who do not have the right to stay must leave the country – quickly and reliably”.
“This is a prerequisite for migration to be accepted by society.”
What the law contains
Faeser said the draft law on improving returns would create the necessary conditions for expulsions and returns to take place.
It contains more than 40 individual measures that the government says will make it easier and simpler to carry out deportations.
First and foremost is an extension of the maximum period of pre-deportation detention from 10 to 28 days to make it easier for the authorities to ensure that deportations actually take place. At present, deportations often fail at the last minute.
Sometimes this is due to a lack of cooperation from migrants – for example, failure to provide identification – because they are seriously ill, have come from a war zone, or because their home countries refuse to take them back.
The proposed changes include increased police powers, notably an end to the requirement to notify people before deporting them. There would be exceptions for people who are ill or have children with them.
Police would also be able to search the homes of third parties when trying to establish a migrant’s identity. At present, the authorities can only search the bedroom of the person concerned.
The law also gives police the right to search computers and mobile phones to establish a person’s identity.
Migrants who are found to have criminal links will also be deported more quickly, regardless of whether they have committed crimes in Germany.
Is the law controversial?
The law was agreed by the three-way coalition of the centre-left SPD, of which Faeser and Scholz are members, the Greens and the neo-liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
However, some members of the Green Party have described the proposal as a “massive infringement of fundamental rights”, saying it is “disproportionate and too harsh”.
The draft does not go far enough for some conservative lawmakers, while the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) are pushing for more and faster deportations.
CDU chief whip Hendrik Hoppenstedt said it contained some correct and sensible measures, but did not represent a ‘turnaround in migration policy’.
He said the law came far too late and failed to address the “acute migration crisis”. Hoppenstedt also criticised its “negligible effect” – according to the draft, the law would ensure 600 additional deportations per year.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was even more critical. “The law only brings tiny micro changes,” said AfD parliamentary secretary Bernd Baumann. He called the additional deportations per year “not even a homeopathic dose”.