Talks with six states
The federal government is struggling for further migration agreements
October 3, 2023, 9:26 a.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
Migration agreements with the most important countries of origin of refugees are seen as the key to regulating immigration to Germany. So far, the traffic light government has only completed one of them. But more are to follow soon.
The federal government is currently negotiating with at least six countries about concluding migration agreements. On the one hand, they are intended to enable people without the right to remain in Germany to return to their home countries, but on the other hand they are also intended to regulate the immigration of skilled workers into the German labor market. The Federal Ministry of the Interior announced that the special representative appointed to conclude the agreements, Joachim Stamp, is currently in confidential discussions with several countries. “Currently, Georgia, Moldova, Kenya, Colombia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan can be mentioned.”
The traffic light government sees the migration agreements as the key to regulating immigration to Germany. The SPD, Greens and FDP already agreed in the coalition agreement to appoint a special representative for this purpose. Stamp began work on February 1 this year. Shortly beforehand – at the beginning of December 2022 – a first “Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement” was signed with India, which has been in force since March. But it remains the only one to this day.
Declarations of intent with two states
However, there are now at least declarations of intent with the two Central Asian states of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The corresponding agreement with Kyrgyzstan was signed on Friday during the Central Asia Summit with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. However, very few asylum seekers are currently coming to Germany from the two former Soviet republics. According to statistics from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, there were 60 from Kyrgyzstan and 100 from Uzbekistan from January to August this year.
In total, more than 220,000 applications for asylum were made in Germany during this period. Kenya (272 applications), Colombia (2037 applications) and Moldova (2124) are also not among the main countries of origin. Georgia (7405) ranks a little higher in the statistics.
Scholz: “We’re really doing it now”
At a public discussion in Hamburg on Monday, Chancellor Scholz once again expressed his confidence that further migration agreements will soon follow. “A lot of noise has already been made, I’ll put it that way, but we’re really doing it now and have pushed it very far,” said the SPD politician.
The Chancellor pointed out that a template for the agreements had now been drafted and the special representative had been appointed. He himself always brings up the topic in his meetings with other heads of state and government. He assumes that this approach will also meet with the approval of the population.