The Berlin immigration authorities want to identify four people from abroad from Germany who were involved in pro-Palestinian protests. All four are said to have been at the Free University of Berlin (FU) and committed further crimes.
Hooded to the FU Presidium in October in October, threatened employees and damaged rooms. The US website “The Intercept” first reported on the deportation arrangements. According to Tagesspiegel information, one person is currently studying at the Alice Salomon University.
Further allegations are said to have been raised in the context of actions such as a seat strike at the main train station or a street block. All four affected persons have filed an urgent application to the administrative court and a lawsuit against the expulsion, the lawyer Alexander Gorski told the Tagesspiegel. He represents two of the four affected people.
Eil applications at the administrative court
Three of them are three EU citizens, two are from Ireland, one from Poland. The fourth person has a US citizenship. According to Gorski, there are criminal investigations against them, but no convictions, in one case even an acquittal. According to “The Intercept”, there was an acquittal in the case of an Irish who had been accused of describing a police officer as a “fascist”.
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A court spokeswoman confirmed the Tagesspiegel on request that the urgent streak and complaints from the four affected people are available. The Berlin immigration authority-the State Office for Immigration (LEA)-withdrawn the right of the EU for Germany, the Berlin immigration authority-this should be carried out immediately.
If the three people do not leave voluntarily, they would be deported. This also includes a ban on stay in Germany – between two and three years. “The Intercept” names April 27 as a deadline for departure for the four affected people.
Justified with “danger to public security”
According to the court spokeswoman, the Lea has attested the three EU citizens that they are a “current danger to public security and order”. This is based on several criminal proceedings with reference to the Middle East conflict.
It is about resistance to the executive officer after dissolution of demonstrations, insult, particularly serious breach of the peace and the use of indicators of terrorist organizations, including the saying “From the River to the Sea”. According to the immigration office, all persons are members of a violent group of the propalestinian scene, said the court spokeswoman.
High hurdles among EU citizens
There are high hurdles for the withdrawal of the free movement of EU citizens in Germany. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, this is possible “for reasons of public order, security or health”. In the event of a danger to security and order, it must be an “actual and sufficiently serious risk”, “which affects a basic interest of society” and is based on the behavior of the person.
The withdrawal of EU freedom of free movement is therefore rather rare. Usually there must be quite serious crimes. In the Berlin judiciary, the great trade of hard drugs or severe child abuse are mentioned as examples.
When negotiating the cases of the three accused EU citizens, it is also exciting to see how the urgent requests and complaints are decided at the administrative court-all cases are treated by various chambers.
Is the arrangement proportionate?
In any case, deportations can also be ordered under German law without the person concerned being convicted of criminal law. A principle of proportionality applies here, so it must be serious allegations.
According to the lawyer, this is not the case: he describes the actions of the authorities as “alarming from a legal point of view” and compares the procedure with strategies of the ultra -right in the USA. Political dissent is suppressed by using the weak point of the foreign status.
The Trump government is currently depriving students from abroad residence permit or visas and justifies this with participation in Palestine protests or boycott campaigns against Israel. So far it should affect around 300. Some are already in deportation, although this is not lawful.
“Prisoner” group stormed FU Presidium
However, the FU campaign of October 17, 2024, which the interior administration also refers to its deportation decision, is not one of the more harmless actions of the Pro Palestine scene. 40 hooded stormed the presidium and threatened employees with axes, saws, crowbar and sticks. At the time, these were tackled “blatant and brutal”. The attackers destroyed furniture, computer and copier, smeared slogans and the red Hamas triangle in the stairwell and on the facade. The FU filed a criminal complaint in five cases and spoke of property damage worth more than 100,000 euros.
© Screenshot X „Noam Petri“
On Tagesspiegel request, the interior administration justifies its decision with the incidents in the Presidium occupation in October. It refers to a “violent and hooded group of people”, “significant property damage”, “graffiti with reference to the” Israel-Palestine complex “and other crimes”.
In March 2025, the Berlin State Office for Immigration (LEA) issued a decision against four foreign nationals. According to the administration, the criminal proceedings are ongoing.
“Whether measures are issued with the aim of termination of stays will always be assessed based on the requirements of the corresponding legal regulations,” it continues. In addition to a criminal conviction, the authority also mentions the criteria for a withdrawal as well as “the danger issued by the person, the social, professional and cultural integration as well as the purpose of residence and its duration”.
Procedure within the Berlin authority controversial
There were apparently disputes within the Berlin authority due to the deportation arrangement. After the Senate administration had requested one in December, a department head is said to have intervened at the State Office for Immigration.
The department head, responsible for fighting crime and return, and Lea director Engelhard Mazanke had concerns: The allegations were not sufficient for the withdrawal of the free movement of the three EU citizens, and deportation would then be illegal. You could not fulfill the instructions of the interior administration to the loss of freedom of movement.
Head of department of the interior management intervened
A possible endangerment of the public order by the person concerned could be obvious. However, since there are no final judgments, there is no reason for an alleged severe and actual risk. The civil servant turned against the instruction – a so -called remonstration.
In doing so, she also secured herself in the event of an illegal authorities. Because civil servants have full personal responsibility for the legality of their official actions. If you consider something illegal, you have to put this up.
Christian Oestmann, head of the first department of the Senate Administration, responsible for state and administrative law, is said to have overruled the concerns. And he is said to have ordered that the designation is ordered and executed.
Until 2000, Oestmann was a judge at the administrative court. The lawyers in his department are said to have examined the cases intensively. In the background, the political question should also have played a role as to whether the authorities do enough against violent propalestinisic, often enough, anti -Israel actions.
“For these people, the further free movement for reasons of public order and security cannot be justified, regardless of any criminal convictions,” his letter is cited. “I therefore demand that the hearings are carried out immediately as arranged.”