Conference of Prime Ministers: Federal government continues to examine asylum procedures in third countries

Die Bundesregierung will die Prüfung von Asylverfahren in Ländern außerhalb der Europäischen Union fortsetzen und dazu bis Dezember konkrete Ergebnisse vorlegen. Das ist das Ergebnis eines Treffens von Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (SPD) mit den Regierungschefs der Länder in Berlin. Der Kanzler sagte nach dem neuerlichen Spitzentreffen am späten Donnerstagabend: „Es ist fest vereinbart, dass wir den Prozess fortführen und in diesen Fragen auch weiter berichten werden.“ Gleichzeitig dämpfte Scholz mögliche Erwartungen.

Innenministerin Nancy Faeser (SPD) hatte zu den rechtlichen und praktischen Voraussetzungen für Asylprüfungen in Drittstaaten Stellungnahmen von Experten eingeholt. Zur Frage, welche Möglichkeiten es gibt, sagte Scholz: „Ich glaube, das ist zu früh.“

Ein Modell wie von Italien vorgesehen, mit einer Verlagerung der Asylverfahren für Bootsmigranten nach Albanien, komme angesichts der anderen geografischen Lage für Deutschlands so nicht infrage, sagte Scholz. Das Gleiche gelte für das britische Modell, wo Flüchtlinge nach Ruanda geflogen werden sollen. Bei diesen Ländern gehe es um 3000 beziehungsweise 6000 Betroffene. Mit der Größenordnung, die Deutschland bewältigen müsse, habe das „nur ein bisschen was zu tun“.

Der Vorsitzende der Ministerpräsidentenkonferenz, Hessens Regierungschef Boris Rhein (CDU), sagte: „Wir werden jetzt nicht bei Gutachten stehenbleiben, das begrüße ich sehr.“ Auf Initiative der Union hatten sich die Ministerpräsidenten vor ihrem Treffen mit Scholz auf einen Beschluss geeinigt, in dem die Bundesregierung dazu aufgefordert wird, „konkrete Modelle“ für Asylverfahren in Drittstaaten oder Transitländern vorzulegen. Die SPD-Seite zeigte sich trotzdem skeptisch, dass man mit einer solchen Regelung die irreguläre Einwanderung deutlich bremsen kann. „Dass das eine Lösung unserer strukturellen Probleme sein wird, das glaube ich nicht“, sagte Niedersachsens Ministerpräsident Stephan Weil.

Scholz said that the federal government would also push ahead with the deportation of serious criminals and “dangerous individuals” to Afghanistan and Syria. The Federal Minister of the Interior has already started talks on this and things are “on the right track” there.

Bavaria and Saxony (both governed by the CDU/CSU) felt that the state resolutions did not go far enough. They presented a five-point plan that included a demand for “immediate arrest” for criminals and dangerous individuals who are required to leave the country and who cannot be deported. The CDU/CSU has long been pushing for a regulation according to which migrants either undergo asylum procedures in transit states on their way to Europe or are sent to third countries outside the EU after arriving in Germany.

Thuringia and Bremen expressed their dissatisfaction with the new agreements in a statement of record. In it, they questioned whether a relocation of asylum procedures met the requirements of the rule of law and humanity.

With regard to the planned payment card for asylum seekers, the states agreed to limit the withdrawal of cash to 50 euros per month. Rhein spoke of an important signal. The payment card should be launched in the summer, when the tender for the service provider will be completed. At the end of January, 14 of 16 states agreed on a joint award procedure for the payment card.

Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are going their own way. However, in a statement of record, Bremen and Thuringia proposed a “cash corridor of 50 to 120 euros” instead of 50 euros per month in cash due to different regional conditions. Against this background, Rhineland-Palatinate opposed “a rigid determination” of 50 euros.

The heads of state welcomed the additional controls introduced in October at the border with the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland. The resolution states that the federal police are already using the internal border controls to reject refugees who enter from another EU member state in accordance with the legal possibilities. The Federal Chancellor and the heads of government are of the opinion that the EU Return Directive should be revised in such a way that rejections can continue to be carried out “in a practicable manner”.

Rhein also called on the federal government to quickly create the conditions for the planned deportations to Syria and Afghanistan. The states welcomed Scholz's announcement that serious criminals and terrorist threats would also be deported to countries such as Syria or Afghanistan, for example, and that deportation regulations would be tightened if terrorist crimes were approved, he said. “As states, we expressly acknowledge our responsibility, which we of course also have on this issue, when it comes to deportations,” he said. But in order to be able to deport, the states need repatriation agreements with the countries of origin.

Meanwhile, the federal government did not give in to the states' demand for compulsory insurance against flooding and other natural hazards across the country. “The compulsory insurance demanded by the states would make living in Germany more expensive, entail a great deal of bureaucracy and would not relieve the state of financial liability,” said the responsible Federal Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann (FDP), on Thursday evening, explaining the government's negative attitude. There should be further talks. According to the states' ideas, companies should have to offer a contract to every homeowner who wants to insure against natural hazards. So far, homeowners for buildings in areas at high risk of flooding have not been able to find insurance that is willing to cover the high risk. Only about half of private buildings in Germany have natural hazard insurance.

Scholz saw progress in the cooperation between the federal and state governments to speed up approval procedures. 80 percent of the projects from the Germany Pact for accelerating planning and approval have now been implemented or are being implemented, he said after the meeting. “We are making Germany faster.”