Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) announced that he plans to significantly accelerate the deportation process for asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected, proposing a new law to achieve this. According to Dobrindt, the primary focus must be on eliminating various “deportation obstacles” to become more efficient. Speaking to RTL and ntv on Wednesday, the Minister emphasized the necessity of a more efficient policy for removals, noting that previously, repatriations had failed for a variety of reasons, such as the inability to locate individuals or restrictions on conducting necessary searches.
Furthermore, Dobrindt detailed specific new procedures to facilitate returns. He stated that if people cannot be deported to their home countries-particularly because those nations are uncooperative-measures must be established to transfer them to third countries. He noted that this opportunity has not been available until now, and the aim is to utilize so-called “Return Hubs” potentially located in third countries outside the European Union, to make this possible. While he did not disclose potential partner nations, he confirmed that discussions are currently underway with several third countries, as well as collaborations with other EU members, though he declined to provide technical details on these discussions.
Regarding specific targets, the Minister did not name a definitive goal for additional deportations. He recalled that deportations had been significantly increased by 20 percent last year, though he tempered expectations for the current year due to various factors. Despite this variation, he maintained that the level of removals would persist, estimating around 24,000 people would be deported. Dobrindt stressed that a major focus is now on moving criminal offenders to countries like Afghanistan and Syria. He highlighted the successful establishment of agreements with Afghanistan since last December, allowing for regular and routine deportations of criminal offenders using standard commercial airlines, rather than relying solely on charter flights. He concluded with the statement that, according to Dobrindt, “Germany is safer when offenders have to leave our country” and this process must be consistently maintained.
