CDU and CSU Talks with the German government on a joint approach to asylum and migration policy have broken off.
The government’s proposals to reject asylum seekers at the German borders are not far-reaching enough, said Union negotiator Thorsten Frei on Tuesday.
Representatives of the German federal government, the states and the Union met on Tuesday afternoon for the second round of their migration talks. The Union had previously made rejections at the border a condition for their participation.
Faeser proposal: Imprison all asylum seekers whose procedures are the responsibility of another EU state
The German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) On Monday, she ordered checks at all German borders and threatened to push back more refugees. During talks on Tuesday, she is said to have suggested, among other things, temporarily detaining certain refugees.
According to government sources on Tuesday, this procedure should be applied to those refugees who seek asylum in Germany, but whose asylum procedure is the responsibility of another EU member state. The German Federal Police should therefore check detention capacities and apply to the court for accommodation.
According to a policy paper, the measure is intended to prevent people from going into hiding and can be imposed because of the risk of escape. To achieve this, sufficient detention places must be made available quickly near the border and along the migration routes, the paper states.
The refugee will then be detained until he or she is deported to the member state in which he or she first entered the EU, in accordance with the Dublin rules.
In order to check which country is responsible, the German federal police at the border should primarily use the so-called EURODAC database. This is where the refugees’ fingerprints are stored. All of the proposed measures comply with EU law, it is said.
Migration talks with German government fail for Merz
Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz has declared that talks with the German government on tightening asylum rules have failed. The coalition in Berlin obviously does not see itself in a position to accept comprehensive rejections at the German borders, said the CDU chairman in Berlin.
“The attempt to go down a common path has failed,” he added on Tuesday evening.
As ÖVP Interior Minister Gerhard Karner On Tuesday evening, “effective rejections at the European external borders are necessary and must be implemented quickly.” Austria, together with 15 other EU member states, is a pioneer in enforcing asylum procedures in third countries. “I am very confident that Germany will also join this broad alliance in order to comprehensively reform the asylum system and combat illegal migration,” said Karner.