Traffic light government presents migration package: Immigration is to be newly regulated

Created: 07/07/2022, 09:50

By: Mike Schier

The traffic light government wants to set new accents in foreigner policy.

The cabinet has presented the first migration package.

Goal: Well-integrated should be allowed to stay.

Berlin – The new tone is already clear in the first few sentences.

Nancy Faeser (SPD) - as interior minister, successor to a certain Horst Seehofer (CSU) - calls Germany a "diverse immigration country".

Now the federal government wants to actively shape immigration instead of just reluctantly managing it, as it has done in recent years.

The cabinet has therefore decided on a first migration package, which will be discussed in parliament after the summer break.

Two more packages are to follow at the end of the year and in the coming year.

Traffic light government wants to offer immigrants a "real chance".

The first package deals with several points: With the nice title Chances of Residence, the government wants to enable well-integrated, but only tolerated foreigners to settle down permanently in Germany.

Faeser calls this a “real opportunity”.

The requirements are clear: those affected must have lived in the country for at least five years (deadline: December 31, 2021), speak German, earn their own living and prove their identity beyond any doubt.

For young people under the age of 27, the minimum length of stay is three years.

Specifically, there are 242,000 tolerated persons in Germany, 136,000 have been living here for more than five years.

Most of them of working age.

Meanwhile, the traffic light coalition also wants to bring the Bundestag back to its old size.

However, your project has met with criticism from the Union and the left.

Criminals excluded from the migration package

"We are thus ending the unspeakable previous practice of chain toleration, which the immigration authorities in particular have complained about," says the minister.

The state of the constant extension of their tolerance is also stressful for those affected.

Faeser says clearly: criminals are excluded from the regulation.

Even people who hide their identity would have no chance.

This is the point where the interior minister gets through at Faeser.

The SPD politician finds the nice paraphrase for this that one wants to create “faster prospects for leaving the country”.

In concrete terms: criminals and threats are to be got rid of with a “repatriation offensive”.

For this purpose, the duration of detention pending deportation is extended.

In practice, that can make a big difference, says Faeser.

So far, detention has ended after three months – after that many have disappeared and can no longer be deported.

The maximum detention pending deportation is now six months.

"Consistent repatriation is required in the interest of acceptance of a humanitarian migration policy," the law says.

also read

Kremlin expert explains Merkel's main mistake towards Putin - and warns against Ukraine concession

NATO counters Putin's nuclear threat: Agreed in Elmau, nervous in the Kremlin

Nancy Faeser (SPD) presents the traffic light government's first migration package in her ministry.

© Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Better integration opportunities for asylum seekers

In general, however, the traffic light coalition is concerned with integration beginning earlier.

Asylum seekers should have access to language and integration courses right from the start.

So far, this has depended on the prospect of staying.

"Communicating our values ​​and our language is always important, even if people are only temporarily in our country," says Faeser.

The step is not cheap.

The coalition estimates the additional expenditure by 2026 at a total of 436.5 million euros.

There are also higher costs for the social security funds: those who use the right of opportunity to stay change from benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act to higher basic security.

For 2023, the federal government expects additional spending of 180 million euros.

In the long term, however, the hoped-for better integration of those affected should lead to additional income.

Migration package: Make immigration more attractive for skilled workers

The traffic light is also very important for the easier influx of skilled workers.

That's what the next packages should focus on.

This only regulates that well-qualified people can bring their families with them immediately, even if they don't speak German.

So far, this has prevented many skilled workers from choosing Germany, says Faeser.

The Union rejects the plans.

Domestic policy spokesman Alexander Throm (CDU) criticized that the new regulation would reward people “who are not persecuted or in need of protection, who have to leave the country and still persistently refuse”.

You create "massive incentives for illegal migration to Germany".

Faeser refers to the high hurdles such as language and job.

That there is a "pull effect" is "nonsense".

(

)