German Christian Democratic Union candidate Friedrich Merz has announced a tough programme on refugees and migration on his first day as chancellor – if he wins in February.
Merz, 69, will reject all migrants without valid entry documents at the German border and stop asylum seekers from entering the country.
The announcements come after a double murder in Aschaffenburg, which has heightened political debate in Germany over migrants. An Afghan man named Enamullah, 28, attacked a kindergarten in a park in Aschaffenburg, seriously injuring three people.
Full border controls.
Merz presented several points regarding asylum and refugees, including the establishment of complete and strict border controls, the unconditional rejection of illegal immigrants, large-scale deportations and returns under the responsibility of the federal government, additional powers for the federal police, the unconditional deportation detention, the reactivation of the faltering European distribution mechanism, and how to persuade countries that are unwilling to take back refugees.
The German website Sueddeutsche quoted the EU candidate for chancellor as saying on Thursday that "on the first day of my term in office, I will issue instructions to permanently monitor Germany's borders with all our neighbors and to reject all attempts at illegal entry without exception," adding that the rejection "also explicitly applies to people who have a right to protection."
The leader of the Christian Democratic Union party made it clear that if he wins the elections, he will order the primacy of national law - as if Germany had suddenly been freed from all European and human rights obligations that it had signed itself.
The liberal Merz is close to assuming the position of chancellor of Germany, after the general elections scheduled for next February, after his party, the far-right Christian Democratic Union, advanced on His rivals in the polls, and following the collapse of his rival Olaf Scholz's coalition.
*Wide criticism
Maiser's statements were widely criticized, and they saw this request as a restriction on the individual's right to asylum enshrined in the Basic Law. The main argument of the critics now is that according to the Dublin rules, Germany, as a landlocked European country, is never responsible for this procedure, because refugees always come to Germany via another EU country. This is true, but it means that border officials cannot simply reject someone when they apply for asylum.
The source pointed out that a much faster procedure at the border is needed, with a simplified examination - for example for refugees already registered in another EU country.
This would amount to a quick determination of responsibility for the asylum procedure, but the application must nevertheless be examined and not simply rejected, and the success of this depends on the willingness of the countries concerned to cooperate. Italy, for example, refuses to take back asylum seekers.
*Kafkaesque system
The European Court of Justice has so far rejected all attempts to impose a strict refugee policy through Article 72.
When Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic wanted to undermine European relocation decisions intended to ease the burden on Greece and Italy in the 2015 refugee year, they were rejected by Luxembourg.
The same applies to Hungary’s transit zones on the Serbian border, a “Kafkaesque system” – named after the Austrian writer Franz Kafka – that makes it impossible for people to apply for asylum.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, there were 974,136 people of Syrian origin living in Germany at the end of October. Of these, 5,090 were recognised as asylum seekers. 321,444 were registered as refugees under the Geneva Convention, i.e. because of a well-founded fear of persecution due to their membership of a particular group or religion.
A further 329,242 people were granted “subsidiary protection” – meaning they did not have refugee protection or the right to asylum. Asylum.
To get this, the applicant must prove that they are at risk of “serious harm” in their country of origin. The remaining people had other residence permits, for example for family reunification.
Fares Al-Rifai - Zaman Al-Wasl
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