As reported by "Russkaya Germaniya", such data was communicated to journalists over the past weekend by the head of the German Interior Ministry, Horst Seehofer, whose department is responsible for the "process of returning" refugees to their homeland. According to the CSU representative, the reasons for the failure of deportations were mainly related to the lack of identity documents issued by the refugees' country of origin, the fact that on the day of extradition the person was not at their registered address, or due to "resistance" to expulsion from the country.
According to Interior Ministry data, in more than seven thousand cases, the state authorities, under whose "care" the asylum seekers are, canceled the planned deportation directly on the day of the expulsion, which was to be carried out by Federal Police officers (this is a federal competence). In another 3,200 cases, the initiated extradition process was interrupted due to "active or passive resistance" from the deportees.
Mr. Seehofer stated that he discussed this, in his opinion, clearly unsatisfactory situation with Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to the Interior Minister, the discussion was about how it might be possible to "rectify this state of affairs as quickly as possible." In particular, it was about passing the so-called "Orderly Return Law" (Geordnete-Rückkehr-Gesetz) in the Bundestag before the summer parliamentary recess.
Excerpts from this 74-page document, which is currently being circulated for approval to all interested federal and state authorities, have already reached the press. The preamble of the document states that the "legal instruments" currently available to the authorities for deporting people who are not entitled to remain in Germany have proven "insufficiently effective." Despite the fact that "many new rules" have been adopted in this regard recently, the practice of their application leaves much to be desired, as they "do not always lead to the desired success."
It is noted that essentially the current legislation on deportation is being tightened. Among the legislative changes proposed to be introduced with the new law, the following stand out.
The process of issuing foreigners temporary protection from extradition (Duldung) should be revised "downward," and the number of such documents reduced. It is proposed to issue them only to those who temporarily cannot be deported to their country of origin for humanitarian reasons or due to illness. Asylum seekers who deliberately obstruct their identification by providing false information or destroying personal documents, or who resist extradition, will no longer be issued Duldung. Their legal status will change "for the worse," and they will no longer be able to receive part of the social benefits due to refugees.
Refugees subject to extradition may be arrested (only by court order) and, until their expulsion, may await this process not only in deportation detention but also in "regular" prison. Since this innovation contradicts European Union law, Germany, "due to the particularly difficult situation," intends to make an exception for itself until June 30, 2022. Currently, all German deportation prisons have only 420 places for detainees, which is clearly insufficient.
Warning a refugee about an impending deportation or disclosing information about an upcoming expulsion of asylum seekers should become punishable. It is particularly emphasized that this does not apply to representatives of the press, but primarily to charitable organizations working with refugees.
The human rights organization Pro Asyl has already called the legislative proposals prepared by Horst Seehofer's department "outrageous and clearly excessive." Meanwhile, the number of asylum seekers whose deportation from Germany is impossible due to the lack of identity documents is rising sharply. While in 2017 there were only about 38,000 such people, last year this figure grew to nearly 70,000.
It is noted that particular problems arise with people from India, Pakistan, and Lebanon: these countries take a very long time (if at all) to issue new documents to refugees to replace "lost" ones. The nationality of nearly four thousand asylum seekers in Germany remains "unclarified" by German authorities to this day.