Before the planned federal and state consultations on refugee policy, the prime ministers increased the pressure on the federal government. The financial contributions from the federal government should be based primarily on how many people come to Germany – “because that’s a number that the states and municipalities can definitely not influence,” said Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) on Sunday. An annual flat rate regardless of the number of people seeking protection is not enough.
Weil expects “very difficult talks” on Wednesday. He said: “At the moment it is not foreseeable whether we will actually succeed in coming to a common position in the end. I wish that very much.” The federal government’s proposals offer little reason for confidence.
The federal government does not want to increase payments
So far, the federal government has not been willing to increase its payments, nor is it interested in a return to the system of per capita flat rates. Instead, a draft from the Chancellery for a draft resolution for the meeting calculates how much the federal government is already contributing to refugee-related expenditure.
The proposals contained in the paper, which are intended to provide relief, include extending the validity of the residence permit for refugees with restricted protection status from one to three years. The idea behind it: If people with subsidiary protection status no longer have to go to the immigration authorities every year, the staff has more time to take care of other tasks. It is also being considered how foreigners who have come to Germany despite an entry ban can be more easily detained pending deportation.
“Cities, municipalities and districts need significantly more money – the federal government must therefore at least double its share of the current 2.75 billion euros,” demanded Hesse’s head of state Boris Rhein (CDU) in the editorial network Germany (RND). Otherwise, accommodation and integration cannot be financed in the long term. Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) told the “Bild am Sonntag” (BamS): “The federal government must finally ensure that immigration is controlled. If we in Germany are not able to act, trust in our democracy will increase and more undermine.”
Söder may want to cut development aid
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) suggested that countries of origin that do not take back rejected asylum seekers should cut aid. “We stand by the fundamental right to asylum. But in the case of countries that do not agree to an orderly repatriation, we must also think about cuts in development aid in the future,” Söder told the newspaper.
The interior ministers of Brandenburg and Saxony called for the introduction of stationary controls at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic in order to limit unauthorized entries. Michael Stübgen and Armin Schuster (both CDU) wrote to the Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) with their request, as they jointly announced on Sunday. They referred to the already existing border controls in Bavaria, which are effective and correct.
“The federal government must live up to its responsibility and must not leave the states and municipalities alone with the additional costs of the refugee crisis,” said Baden-Württemberg’s state chief Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) of the “BamS”. The Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD) called for “unclaimed funds from housing promotion to be able to be used to create affordable housing that can also be used temporarily to accommodate refugees”.
Brandenburg and Saxony are demanding border controls
The interior ministers of Brandenburg and Saxony are calling for the introduction of stationary controls at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic in order to limit the unauthorized entry of refugees. Michael Stübgen and Armin Schuster (both CDU) wrote to Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) before the refugee summit planned for Wednesday, as they jointly announced on Sunday. They referred to the already existing border controls in Bavaria, which are effective and correct.
The President of the German Association of Cities, Markus Lewe (CDU), told the Funke media group: “The federal and state governments must not go away empty-handed at their next meeting on May 10. We need reliable funding commitments and concrete results that will help us with the admission noticeably relieve the burden of refugees.” The money must dynamically adapt to the increasing number of refugees and actually reach the municipalities. “The federal government must also consistently support the repatriation of asylum seekers who are obliged to leave the country and have no prospect of staying.”
Faeser hopes for an EU solution
Faeser (SPD) meanwhile sees good chances of finding a solution to migration policy within the EU soon. “I want us Europeans to finally act together – despite all resistance,” she told BamS. “We have already broken through the years of mutual blockade in the EU.” The main focus is on the proposal for asylum centers at the EU’s external borders, from where asylum seekers can also be sent back or distributed fairly.
Pro Asyl called on the party executives of the SPD, Greens and FDP to prevent German approval of asylum procedures at the external borders at EU level. “In remote, closed camps on the edges of the EU, it’s not about granting protection,” said the organization, which advocates for the rights of refugees. Rather, those seeking protection should be subjected to quick procedures there, at the end of which many face deportation to a supposedly safe third country.
Council meeting on asylum reform
At the Council meeting of EU interior ministers on June 8, the issue will be the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which has been controversial for years. Above all, countries on the EU’s external borders such as Italy and countries such as Germany, which are the destination of many asylum seekers, have a great interest in reaching an agreement on this soon with a view to the European elections next year.
The FDP domestic politician Linda Teuteberg told the German Press Agency that the political will to organize and control migration effectively is decisive. “Management requires control,” emphasized Teuteberg, who is a member of the federal executive board of the FDP. It would make sense to check in third countries “whether someone is entitled to protection, can enter the EU as a migrant worker or obviously has no prospects of staying”. Teuteberg also called for objectification of the debate. She said: “The rightly high level of acceptance and willingness to take in Ukrainian war refugees must not be used as a pretext for denying the need to finally effectively limit irregular migration.”
The federal chairman of the local political association of the CDU and CSU, Christian Haase, said: “In many places, the reception capacities are exhausted, there are not enough school and daycare places. Under these conditions, integration offers cannot work.” This also affected people who had already gone through the asylum procedure and now wanted to build up a perspective in Germany. That is why “effective mechanisms are now needed to limit the influx of refugees”.
