In particular, the police will get the right to detain those who entered the country bypassing border control, destroyed or forged their own documents, provided incomplete or false information about themselves. All these offenses, from the point of view of the authors of the draft law, give asylum seekers a reason to hide from law enforcement officers and, accordingly, should be prevented in advance.
Potentially, the list of changes presented in the new law will affect the interests of a significantly larger number of asylum seekers than today. The law should put a barrier in the way of those refugees who enter Germany with the aim of using the services of its social system: such people will face bans on entry and stay in Germany. The competent authorities will be empowered to assume an interest in German social benefits for those persons whose asylum applications are rejected.
The background for introducing such changes in legislation was the influx of asylum applications from people from Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other Balkan states. Most often, the applicants are Roma. The authors of the draft law count on the deterrent effect of tightening requirements for obtaining political asylum, but practical problems for the new law are promised by the lack of border control between EU member states.
At the end of April, the federal government, despite protests from the opposition and human rights organizations advocating for refugee rights, prepared documents to recognize Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina as safe for stay. This means that the competent authorities will have more official reasons for rejection.
Human rights activists criticize the draft law, which came from the bowels of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for excessive harshness. The changes being prepared in the department of Thomas de Maizière should simplify and bring closer to real practice the procedure for deportation from the country. Currently, German law enforcement officers face serious legal difficulties when deporting from Germany foreigners who have committed crimes on the territory of the country, as well as persons who are proven to belong to extremist organizations. Despite the obvious prerequisites for deportation from Germany, judges considering cases of failed political refugees increasingly insist on a detailed examination of each individual case.
In addition, the ruling coalition is preparing to give hope for legal long-term stay in the country to those almost 100,000 people who have been in Germany for years awaiting deportation. As a rule, these are people whose application for political asylum has been rejected, but deportation from the country does not occur for a long time: in daily expectation of deportation, many failed refugees manage to put down roots in Germany.
Previously, they were mainly granted a regularly extended right to stay (Bleiberecht). In the case of young and relatively integrated people, the government intends to replace it with the right of residence (Aufenthaltsrecht), as well as provide a chance to legally remain in Germany for all those who, having a limited residence permit (Duldung), support themselves, have sufficient knowledge of German, and have not committed serious offenses.
So far, the ruling coalition has not reached unity on the new draft law: some of its formulations cause significant contradictions among conservatives and social democrats. In particular, there is no agreement between experts of the CDU/CSU bloc and the SPD regarding the introduction of restrictions on re-entry into the country. The last discussion on them was fruitless in connection with the ban on re-entry for deported citizens of Bulgaria and Romania, who, however, as EU citizens do not need to submit applications. The coalition agreement requires the government to make changes to sections of legislation regulating the stay of foreigners in Germany and the possibilities of their deportation.
Pyotr LEVSKY,
"Russkaya Germaniya".