Only by plane and only until 2 p.m.: The requirements of the Danish authorities make the deportation of asylum seekers more difficult.
The authorities in Göttingen are now feeling the effects of this.
Göttingen – The district of Göttingen wanted to have an asylum seeker from Serbia-Montenegro deported to Denmark.
The project failed due to both legal and organizational obstacles: Denmark has issued such restrictive guidelines that a transfer is apparently practically impossible.
This is reported by hna.de.
German authorities can deport asylum seekers who have entered Germany via another EU country to the first country of entry - because according to the so-called Dublin rules, which apply throughout the EU and some other European countries, the first country of entry is responsible for processing the application responsible for the asylum application.
Goettingen Administrative Court: Requirements of Danish authorities make deportation of asylum seekers more difficult
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Only by plane and only until 2 p.m.: The requirements of the Danish authorities make the deportation of asylum seekers more difficult.
The Administrative Court of Göttingen has now also felt this.
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© Sebastian Willnow
In practice, however, the authorities in some countries encounter bureaucratic obstacles that make a transfer difficult.
This is shown by a case recently dealt with by the Administrative Court of Göttingen.
The district had applied to the district court of Duderstadt for a court order to be able to search the apartment.
This was intended to secure the intended deportation of the asylum seeker to Denmark and at the same time prevent her from evading the authorities and going into hiding.
The district court declared that it had no jurisdiction and referred the case to the Administrative Court of Göttingen.
However, the latter refused to issue the requested search warrant (reference number 1 E 189/22).
The court gave several reasons for this.
It is already doubtful whether the district is entitled to make such an application.
Strict time window for deportations: Danish authorities only accept transfers until 2 p.m
According to a decree by the Ministry of the Interior, the state admissions authority is the central authority responsible for carrying out deportations in Lower Saxony.
The responsibility also extends to picking up those who are obliged to leave the home, including the request to face deportation.
Even without this formal error, however, the requested search would have been inadmissible in the opinion of the First Chamber.
The search was supposed to take place at 3:30 a.m.
According to the Residence Act, however, an apartment may only be entered or searched at night between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. “if there are facts from which it can be concluded that the seizure of the foreigner for the purpose of his deportation will at best be thwarted.”
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"No one is illegal" sticker: Many people criticize the deportation of asylum seekers as inhumane.
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© IMAGO / C. Hardt
The district justified the early time by saying that the Danish authorities would only accept a transfer until 2 p.m.
The only possible and already scheduled flight to Copenhagen departs Hamburg at 9.45 a.m.
If the search does not take place until 6 a.m., this flight could no longer be reached in time.
Dublin rules: transfer of asylum seekers to the first country of entry within six months
However, the court pointed out that logistical problems were not a sufficient reason to be able to carry out a night search.
According to the Residence Act, the organization of the deportation is not a fact that requires a search at night.
However, the district did not provide any other reasons.
But it was not only the time restrictions that Denmark set for transfers that made deportation practically impossible in this case.
According to Danish regulations, no overland transfers are allowed either.
The German authorities can therefore not hand over to the Danish authorities at the German-Danish border any asylum seekers for whom Denmark would be responsible under the Dublin rules.
The time factor also makes deportations more difficult: According to the Dublin rules, asylum seekers must be transferred to the actually responsible first country of entry within six months after the asylum application has been lodged in the non-responsible country.
A few days ago, the European Court of Justice ruled that this six-month period continued to apply during the deportation break during the Corona crisis in the EU and was not suspended.
(Heidi Niemann)
At the beginning of 2022, a court in Göttingen prohibited the deportation of a mother of two to Lebanon.
A journalist who fled Colombia has a right to asylum, according to the administrative court in Göttingen.
List of rubrics: © Sebastian Willnow
