As reported by Russkaya Germaniya, under the new rules, three countries – Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia – have been declared safe, and asylum applications from their citizens in Germany will be processed on an accelerated basis – within three weeks (one week for the review itself plus two weeks for possible appeal). It is assumed that if refugee status is denied, they will voluntarily return to their homeland. Otherwise, they face deportation.
For some categories of migrants, the rules for family reunification have been tightened: henceforth, the right to invite close relatives will be granted only after two years from obtaining refugee status.
Interestingly, three days after the cabinet approved Asylpaket II, the Vice Chancellor of Germany, Chairman of the SPD Sigmar Gabriel, unexpectedly spoke out against this provision. 'The clause about slowing down family reunification for minors who arrived in Germany unaccompanied was not agreed with me; I only learned about it from the media. There was no such clause in the draft document,' Gabriel told ARD television channel.
Thomas Strobl, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, immediately responded to Gabriel: 'The rules for family reunification were a central issue in the negotiations on Asylpaket II and were widely discussed over several weeks,' Die Welt newspaper quotes Strobl. 'The fact that the SPD chairman suddenly claims he was not informed is irritating. One would think that people in the SPD read draft regulations carefully.'
Strobl also commented on the issuance of residence permits to refugees: 'The right to permanent residence should be granted to migrants no earlier than five years after obtaining refugee status. They must have a minimum knowledge of the German language, basic knowledge of the German legal and social systems, not commit any crimes, and be able to prove they have sufficient funds for pension insurance contributions and can support themselves and their family.'
For the new rules to enter into force, they must be approved by the members of the Bundestag. This issue will be put to a vote at the next plenary session. Approval by the Bundesrat is not required.
The federal government also broadly agreed with Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia on agreements for the return of refugees to these countries (until now, they mostly refused to accept their citizens, which under international law made their deportation impossible). To compensate the receiving countries for the costs of resettling returnees, Germany is taking on the funding of several targeted programs. As Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Gerd Müller explained, 'negotiations are underway with North African countries on providing millions for projects in the areas of employment and vocational training.'
According to Stefan Mayer, domestic policy expert of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, 'it is still cheaper to support the countries on the ground than to keep in Germany those whose asylum applications have been rejected.'
Representatives of the ministries of economic cooperation and development as well as the German Federal Ministry of the Interior are on a working visit in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, and at the end of February, its head Thomas de Maizière will travel to the capitals of these countries to sign the agreements.
At the same time, negotiations on accepting deported refugees from Germany who have committed crimes, but whose deportation to their countries of origin is impossible for objective reasons, are underway with Turkey and a number of other countries in the region. According to the head of the Federal Chancellery, Peter Altmaier, 'the German government plans to deport criminal refugees not to their home country if, for example, there is a civil war there, but to the country from which they entered the European Union.' Germany will also provide financial support to these countries.