The federal government wants to gain free rein in classifying countries as safe countries of origin. On Wednesday, the federal cabinet approved a corresponding drafting guide for the coalition factions in the Bundestag, according to which such a classification can be made through a simple legal regulation, the Bundesrat will then no longer require approval. The goal of the measure is to be able to return migrants from the relevant countries more quickly.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) processes and decides on asylum applications for nationals from safe countries of origin more quickly – usually with a rejection. In the past, such classifications in the Bundesrat (Federal Council) often met with resistance, particularly from federal states with Green Party participation. The federal government now wants to circumvent this hurdle.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said on Wednesday that the move was part of a comprehensive package of "national measures to implement the asylum turnaround." Last week, the cabinet had already decided to temporarily suspend family reunification for refugees without asylum status and end the so-called "turbo-naturalization" process. Dobrindt also ordered tightened border controls about a month ago.
Safe countries of origin are countries where, due to the general political conditions, no political persecution or inhumane punishment or treatment is assumed. Currently, these are the EU member states, as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Serbia, Ghana, and Senegal. People from these countries generally have no prospect of asylum.
Dobrindt suggested that the federal government would classify some of the Maghreb states in North Africa, as well as India, as additional safe countries of origin. However, this would only be decided once the government had the fundamental option to do so by legal decree. The Bundestag would have to decide on this; approval by the Bundesrat was not necessary.
SPD parliamentary manager Dirk Wiese defended the federal government's actions as correct. He said he had "regretted" the "failure at the hands of the Greens" in the Bundesrat. Green Party politician Filiz Polat, on the other hand, accused the federal government of "shaking the foundations of our rule of law." "The classification of safe countries of origin is not an administrative act, but a far-reaching interference with individual protection rights with serious consequences for refugees," she explained. The involvement of constitutional bodies is "not a burdensome procedure, but a constitutional requirement."
The refugee organization Pro Asyl described the federal government's plan as "highly problematic from a constitutional point of view." "The new federal government intends to further erode the rights of refugees in quick succession," explained Wiebke Judith, legal policy spokesperson for Pro Asyl. "The designation of supposedly safe countries of origin and third countries makes it more difficult for vulnerable people to receive the protection to which they are entitled."
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