Next traffic light squabble?
FDP wants to classify Maghreb states as safe
September 9, 2023, 11:38 a.m
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The traffic light coalition continues to argue about its migration policy. Moldova and Georgia were only recently declared safe countries of origin, but the FDP wants more. North African states should also be on the list, demands parliamentary group leader Dürr. There is even support for this from the left.
The FDP wants to declare more states as so-called safe countries of origin in order to make deportations easier. Finance Minister Christian Lindner also proposed protection of the EU’s external border and asylum procedures from abroad. “What is legally possible to prevent irregular migration should be initiated politically,” Lindner told “Welt am Sonntag”. FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr told the newspapers of the Funke media group that the classification of Moldova and Georgia as safe countries of origin decided by the traffic light coalition should not continue. “I thought it would be right to also discuss the Maghreb states.” These include Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, among others.
However, this could lead to trouble with the green coalition partner. However, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock rejects expanding the list of safe countries of origin, as she had previously told the Funke media group.
Union parliamentary group leader Dürr, however, emphasized that the municipalities and the many volunteers in Germany expected “the federal government to make its contribution to greater management and control – after the CDU and CSU’s migration policy has been unsuccessful for many years.”
Safe countries of origin are countries where it is assumed that there is generally neither persecution nor inhumane or degrading treatment and that the foreigner concerned is therefore not at risk of serious harm in his or her home country. This currently applies to the member states of the European Union, Ghana, Senegal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro.
Discontent in the municipalities is increasing
There is growing resistance to new refugee accommodation, reported Gerd Landsberg, managing director of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “Many municipalities have reached their limits when it comes to accommodation, care and integration of refugees. This is leading to local discontent increasing.” There is a lack of accommodation, but also places in schools and daycare centers.
The left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht also called for migration to be limited. Those who are really persecuted deserve protection, but migration is not a solution to the problem of poverty in the world, Wagenknecht also told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “There are limits beyond which our country becomes overwhelmed and integration no longer works.”