Outsourcing of asylum procedures
Scholz dampens expectations, but wants to continue examining
21.06.2024, 00:02
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The Union-led states are pushing for asylum procedures in third countries, but experts have doubts as to whether this can be done legally. At the federal-state summit, the state premiers at least managed to ensure that further investigations are carried out. However, the Chancellor is keeping expectations low.
The states are calling on the federal government to develop concrete models for asylum procedures in third countries outside the European Union. The states have “a clear expectation” that progress will be made on the issue, said Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris Rhein in the evening after consultations between the states and Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “We will not stop at expert opinions now,” said Rhein, who currently heads the Conference of Prime Ministers (MPK) of the states.
Rhein referred to a report commissioned by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which was intended to examine the feasibility of asylum procedures in third countries. A panel of experts came to the conclusion that such procedures are associated with high legal hurdles. According to the report, corresponding models to limit irregular migration are not fundamentally excluded. However, many experts have expressed skepticism or even rejection for legal and implementation reasons.
After the discussions, Scholz said that the report had been noted. “It has been firmly agreed that we will continue the process and continue to report on these issues.” At the same time, he stressed that all speculation about “what is actually possible” was forbidden.
Because: No solution for structural problems
Rhein also concluded that the results of the European elections on June 9th indicate that action is needed on the issue of migration. “The results of the election are alarming,” said Rhein. He assumes that the numbers of irregular migration will rise again. National and EU regulations that prevent asylum procedures in third countries must therefore be reviewed, demanded the CDU politician on behalf of all 16 federal states. Rhein called the states’ decision to develop such procedures a “milestone.”
However, Lower Saxony’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Stephan Weil dampened expectations. The report lists “a whole bag of problems” that such procedures bring with them and that stand in the way of such an approach. “I don’t believe that this will be a solution to our structural problems,” said Weil.
The focus of the consultations between the 16 state premiers and Scholz was irregular migration. The report examined the so-called Rwanda model based on the British model, in which the entire asylum procedure is carried out in a third country, and the Italy-Albania model, in which EU officials oversee the procedures in a third country. Neither model would be suitable for Germany, said Scholz. In Italy, it is about boat migrants, while in the Rwanda model, arriving asylum seekers are flown out. In both countries, there is talk of 3,000 and 6,000 people affected, respectively, and this has “only a little to do with the scale that Germany has to deal with,” said Scholz. A third model is the so-called “outward procedure”, in which migrants can also apply for asylum at local German embassies.
Deportations to Syria and Afghanistan are to come
Another topic of discussion was the question of whether foreigners who have committed crimes in Germany should also be deported to countries such as Afghanistan or Syria. Scholz has spoken out in favor of such an approach, which he reiterated on Thursday evening. Rhein said that the states welcomed this position. The ID rules should also be tightened if terrorist crimes are condoned.
However, experts have doubts about whether the German government should negotiate with the radical Islamic Taliban, who rule Afghanistan. According to media reports, the German government is currently consulting with other countries such as Uzbekistan about deporting Afghan criminals via this route. But there are also considerable legal concerns on this issue.
Payment card: No more than 50 euros cash per month
With regard to the planned payment card for asylum seekers, the states agreed to limit the cash withdrawal to 50 euros per month. Rhein spoke of an important signal. The payment card should be launched in the summer, when the tender for the service provider will be closed. At the end of January, 14 of 16 states agreed on a joint award procedure for the payment card. Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are going their own way. However, Bremen and Thuringia proposed in a protocol statement a “cash corridor of 50 to 120 euros” instead of 50 euros per month in cash due to different regional conditions. Against this background, Rhineland-Palatinate opposed “a rigid determination” of 50 euros.