New asylum dispute looms: Kretschmann minister is mad at the EU - report shows astonishing number

Created: 01/03/2022, 05:33 AM

From: Florian Naumann

Signs for the initial reception facility for refugees in Messstetten, Baden-Wuerttemberg.

(Archive image) © imago stock & people / Joachim Röttgers

Asylum dispute threatens: "We have to accommodate people who have no prospect of staying," complains a minister.

But the situation is complex - and current figures reveal another problem.

Berlin / Stuttgart - The year 2022 has only just begun - and Germany is already having its first migration dispute.

It is about the onward journey of asylum seekers from other EU countries to Germany.

From Baden-Württemberg's black-green government there are calls for new EU pressure on countries such as Greece and Italy.

At the same time, current data show that the majority of asylum seekers in Germany have not previously been registered in any EU * transit country.

And so the debate should only scratch the surface of the problem.

Asylum in Germany: Kretschmann's Minister complains - "These people have no prospect of protection"

Marion Gentges (CDU), Justice Minister in Stuttgart, complained about the situation at the weekend: According to the head of department, around 37,000 so-called secondary migrants were known nationwide at the end of November - people who have already been recognized as asylum seekers in other EU countries. In Baden-Württemberg there were 5000, Gentges told the dpa.

This so-called secondary migration to Germany is not provided for in EU asylum law, but as a rule people cannot simply be sent back.

"These people have no prospect of a protection status because they have already been granted one in another country in the European Union," said Gentges.

The problem: "We have to accommodate and provide for people who have no prospect of staying." Because the refugees could not be sent back at the moment.

According to a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2011, asylum seekers do not have to return to an EU member state if they are threatened with inhuman or degrading treatment there.

German jurisprudence sees this as given in Greece.

Nonetheless, the situation seems even more complex.

Migration - Bamf figures show: the majority of asylum seekers were not registered in the EU

On the one hand, because there are apparently large gaps in the registration of refugees.

As

Die

, referring to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf), “In 2021, by the end of November, 53 percent of first-time applicants aged 14 and over had not had a Eurodac hit”.

Eurodac is an EU database for the international comparison of fingerprints of asylum seekers.

This is to prevent multiple applications in different countries.

According to Bamf, the fingerprints of all 74,837 first-time applicants aged 14 and over in Germany were compared with the database.

Accordingly, there was only one Eurodac hit in 35,245.

Germany is not on the EU's external borders, so theoretically another EU country would initially be responsible for every refugee who enters by land.

For the domestic political spokesman for the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Alexander Throm CDU), the frequent lack of registration "shows the dysfunctionality of the Dublin system drastically".

Registration and rejection of migrating asylum seekers are basic conditions for an EU asylum system, he told

.

The traffic light coalition must consistently insist on compliance with the Eurodac regulation, he demanded.

Asylum debate for the EU: Unsustainable conditions in Greece - Minister calls for support

At the same time, the following applies: Simply placing the responsibility on the states along the EU's external borders should fall short - in the short term in any case, as Gentges also admitted.

"Migrants are so poorly cared for there that not even bread, bed and soap are secured," she said, referring to Greece *.

"And we are not allowed to send anyone back into such a situation, I find this jurisprudence understandable."

Marion Gentges (CDU), Minister of Justice of Baden-Württemberg, speaks.

© Bernd Weißbrod / dpa / archive image

In Gentges' view, the EU must therefore do more and apply more pressure to ensure that migrants are cared for in a humane manner. “That is a sign of poverty for a country in the EU. Clearly more pressure would have to be exerted, ”said the Minister of the dpa. “The European Union must seek talks with the states concerned.” The Greek camp Moria, among others, made negative headlines - but in other parts of the country too, dealing with migrants is not directly humane, as research by

revealed in December.

However, Greece is also overwhelmed by its geographical location on the EU's external border, she admitted.

Like Italy, it must therefore be supported by the international community.

A quick solution is therefore not in sight - especially since it is questionable whether Italy or Greece could be persuaded to assume full responsibility for the migration across the Mediterranean through monetary payments alone.

Migration and the traffic light: Expert Knaus called for new agreements - and a "resettlement coalition"

The well-known migration

Gerald Knaus also sees great asylum policy challenges facing Germany, as he recently

explained

in a guest

for

. Knaus, who is considered to be the architect of the EU-Turkey deal, however, expressed more far-reaching suggestions as pressure or help for EU countries. He spoke out in favor of new agreements with Mediterranean countries such as Morocco and Tunisia: "There the protection status should be determined in compliance with the refugee convention."

Knaus demanded that Germany should "take in refugees every year and set up a global resettlement coalition with Sweden, France and Canada that promises resettlement of refugees of at least 0.05 percent of the population".

For Germany, this is around 40,000 refugees a year.

With a view to possible agreements, the SPD MP Lars Castellucci pointed out that human rights must also be safeguarded in any partner countries.

From Turkey, for example, there were often shocking reports.

EU asylum law sees countries at external borders as an obligation - but Germany is a popular destination

The legal background to the debate in Baden-Württemberg: Actually, under EU law, the EU state that the person seeking protection reached first is usually responsible for an asylum application.

However, once they have been recognized, refugees are also allowed to travel to other member states, although they cannot settle there or stay longer than 90 days per half-year.

In secondary migration, they therefore enter legally, with travel documents that, for example, the Greek authorities issued to them after their asylum applications were recognized.

In Germany, however, they then apply for asylum again - in the hope of receiving benefits and a permanent right to stay.

At the same time, apparently in some cases no data at all, such as fingerprints, are recorded in the countries of first arrival.

Germany is a particularly popular destination because of its good social benefits.

In Greece, on the other hand, there is no basic security like the German Hartz IV *.

In addition, migrants have little chance of entering the labor market.

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