It remains to be seen how much difference the new rules will make, with deportations failing for a variety of reasons.
ADVERTISEMENTThe German parliament on Thursday approved legislation intended to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz seeks to defuse migration as a political problem.
The legislation authorises residential searches for documentation that enables officials to establish a person’s identity, and removes authorities’ obligation to give advance notice of deportations in some cases.
It will also increase the maximum length of pre-deportation custody from 10 to 28 days, while specifically facilitating the deportation of people who are members of a criminal organisation.
Germany’s shelters for migrants and refugees have been filling up in recent months with significant numbers of asylum-seekers entering the country.
These people are added to the more than 1 million Ukrainians arriving since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
The majority of rejected asylum-seekers in Germany will still have at least temporary permission to stay for reasons that can include illness, a child with residency status or a lack of ID.
It remains to be seen how much difference the new rules will make.
Deportations can fail for a variety of reasons, including those the legislation addresses but also a lack of cooperation by migrants’ home countries.
Germany is trying to strike agreements with various nations to address that problem while also creating opportunities for legal immigration.
The German parliament is set to vote Friday on legislation that would ease citizenship rules — a project that the government contends will bolster the integration of immigrants and help an economy that is struggling with a shortage of skilled workers.