Members of the Federal Government and the Conference of Minister-Presidents sit in the Federal Chancellery at the beginning of the federal-state summit. © Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
The federal government is increasing its contribution to the refugee costs. Calling for a solution that automatically adapts to the number of asylum seekers is not enough for countries to get their way.
At their refugee summit, the federal and state governments did not make a fundamental decision on permanently higher federal funds for the accommodation and care of those seeking protection. However, the federal government will increase the refugee allowance to the states by one billion euros for 2023.
This is intended to support the federal states in providing additional relief for their municipalities and financing the digitization of the immigration authorities. The federal government had previously pledged 1.5 billion euros for war refugees from Ukraine this year and 1.25 billion euros for other refugees.
It was agreed that coping with refugee migration is a permanent task of the federal, state and local governments, the participants of the meeting noted. Against this background, the federal and state governments wanted to clarify with each other how the financing of this task could be regulated in the future. A decision on this should be made at a meeting next November.
Some questions still unanswered
The joint decision goes on to say that a working group will prepare this decision. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the heads of government of the federal states would discuss the interim status at their regular meeting in mid-June.
"We have a discussion ahead of us that is worth every effort, I want to say that explicitly. But solving the task is not easy either, because a lot has happened in recent years," Scholz said after the end of the consultations. "We're going in there as an open process and no one can predict the outcome."
"More was just not possible," summed up North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU). "You have to say that so clearly today." The states have not yet received an answer to the central question of a permanently higher participation of the federal government.
For example, there had been no agreement on the full assumption of the costs of accommodation and heating for refugees by the federal government, as desired by the states and municipalities. The questions of higher cost sharing for integration and for underage refugees are also open. Nevertheless, the additional billion should be recognized by the federal government. After all, there is now a roadmap on how to move forward on the way to permanently fair, reliable financing.
"We are aware of our responsibility"
Lower Saxony's head of government, Stephan Weil (SPD), said the decision was better than what he thought was possible just a day or two ago. "We, the federal and state governments, are aware of our shared responsibility," he said as chairman of the Minister-Presidents' Conference (MPK).
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In the first four months of this year, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees received 101,981 first-time asylum applications. This is an increase in the number of applications of around 78 percent compared to the same period last year. Since the beginning of the year, the main countries of origin have been Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey. Last year, around 218,000 people applied for asylum in Germany for the first time. In addition, municipalities must accommodate more than one million war refugees from Ukraine. They do not have to apply for asylum.
In order to enforce deportations more consistently, the federal and state governments have agreed to extend the maximum duration of custody from the current 10 to 28 days, Scholz said. According to the information, expanded responsibilities of the Federal Police and an improved exchange of information between judicial and immigration authorities were also agreed.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) at the beginning of the federal-state summit in the Federal Chancellery. © Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
"In order to relieve the burden on the federal, state and local governments, irregular migration must be noticeably reduced," reads the resolution agreed by the participants of the refugee summit. Who is responsible for this, however, remained open. Elsewhere it is stated: "Depending on the situation, the Federal Government will also establish the existing border security concept in relation to Austria at other internal borders of Germany after consultation with the relevant states of the Federal Republic of Germany." Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) would then have to register this with the EU Commission.
Criticism from the Greens
Actually, in the Schengen area, to which 26 European countries belong, there are no stationary identity checks at the borders. In recent years, however, several states have taken advantage of an exemption. Germany has been controlling Bavaria on the border with Austria since autumn 2015, after tens of thousands of refugees and other migrants made their way from Greece via the Balkan route to Western Europe.
Saxony, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt stated in a protocol statement on the decision: "The central problem is the continued irregular migration. All measures taken by the federal government so far have not led to a sustainable restriction on immigration."
The increase of one billion euros envisaged by the federal government is "completely inadequate" and does not do justice to the burden situation in the municipalities. In another protocol declaration, Thuringia spoke out against a relocation of asylum procedures to the EU's external borders, as is currently being discussed at the European level.
"The way the debates have been conducted in recent days, humanity has been lost sight of," criticized Green migration expert Filliz Polat. "Isolation and deterrence do not contribute in any way to coping with the tasks involved in the reception and integration of those seeking protection." dpa