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CDU wants reception and repatriation centers for migrants

According to the CDU, people with little chance of being allowed to stay in Germany should not be distributed to the municipalities. The Christian Democrats have submitted a bill to this end. It is unclear whether they will find a majority for this in parliament - and with whom.

,   and  ZEITUNG «AUSSIEDLERBOTE»
4 min read
Members of parliament sit in the plenary chamber during a session of the Thuringian state....aussiedlerbote.de
Members of parliament sit in the plenary chamber during a session of the Thuringian state parliament. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Parliament - CDU wants reception and repatriation centers for migrants

Bundle tasks and deport more consistently: The Thuringian CDU parliamentary group wants to create a central immigration authority as well as reception and repatriation centers for migrants. "We want a fundamental change in migration policy," said the Parliamentary Secretary of the Thuringian CDU parliamentary group, Andreas Bühl, in Erfurt on Monday. To this end, the Christian Democrats have presented their own draft bill, which will be discussed in parliament on Thursday.

Up to two years in the repatriation center

Essentially, the bill stipulates that the prospects of women, men and children remaining in Germany will become the distribution criterion: If their prospects of being allowed to stay in Germany are slim, they are not to be distributed to the municipalities in the first place. Instead, they are to be accommodated in state-run reception and repatriation centers. According to Bühl, they should be able to stay there for up to two years. The anchor centers in Bavaria are a model. The CDU has four such centers in mind. Migration politician Stefan Schard said that more state-owned places were required. In his opinion, a doubling of the state's current accommodation places is necessary.

Relieving the burden on local authorities

Schard emphasized that this should relieve the burden on local authorities. It initially remained unclear how many people this could be expected to affect. Last year, 239 people were deported in Thuringia. In 774 cases, the deportation was aborted for various reasons - for example, if the whereabouts of the person concerned were unclear. "We have an incredibly high number of tolerated cases," said Schard. The repatriation rate in the Free State is too low.

According to CDU ideas, migrants from so-called safe countries of origin could be accommodated in the reception and deportation centers. These include several Balkan countries such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. The Bundestag recently declared Moldova and Georgia to be safe countries of origin. Asylum applications for people from these countries are to be processed more quickly and those affected can then be deported more quickly. Schard renewed his call for the Maghreb states - Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia - to also be declared safe countries of origin.

Central immigration authority

Schard emphasized that they also wanted to bundle tasks more closely. The CDU's draft bill envisages a central immigration authority under the umbrella of the State Administration Office. "This would have the clear advantage that passport replacement could be carried out there, deportation in particularly serious cases, application processing for the state admission program, the implementation of the accelerated skilled worker procedure - and thus a bundling of responsibilities and competencies," said Bühl.

Just a few days ago, the Thuringian state government reorganized its responsibilities in the area of migration. Justice Minister Doreen Denstädt (Greens) handed over this area to Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD). The latter now also wants to create a foreigners authority and bundle tasks more closely. Schard said that it would be too short-sighted for this authority to only deal with skilled workers. The local immigration authorities are sometimes overburdened, he said.

Majority in the state parliament still uncertain

Bühl said that the bill could be passed next year before the state elections, which are scheduled for September 1, 2024. First of all, the aim is for it to be discussed in the committees. "Then we will see what majority can be found for it," he said.

The Thuringian CDU is in opposition, but has already been able to push through its own legislative amendments in the state parliament against the will of the red-red-green minority government with the help of votes from the AfD, FDP and independents. The Thuringian AfD is classified by the state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution as definitely right-wing extremist.

Criticism from the Left and the Greens

Left-wing migration politician Katharina König-Preuss said that the CDU's proposed legislation was brimming with inhumanity and was once again "relying on right-wing majorities with the AfD". She accused the CDU of wanting to select people seeking protection "in future according to the fictitious criterion of prospects of staying and to house them in anchor centers". "These centers are a clear signal to right-wing and racist structures - including the AfD - to implement their political demands for a restrictive migration policy." The draft contradicts the Left's ideas of a migration and integration policy characterized by humanity.

Green parliamentary group leader Astrid Rothe-Beinlich accused the Christian Democrats of symbolic politics and called the bill "highly dangerous". She said that it was largely "based on the repatriation of refugees, their harassment and the isolation of those who have little prospect of staying in anchor centers". This will not happen with the Greens. "Repatriations are currently taking place, but regularly fail due to conditions in the countries of origin that violate human rights," said Rothe-Beinlich. She appealed to the CDU to withdraw the draft.

Read also:

  1. The proposed bill by the Thuringian CDU parliamentary group aims to establish a central immigration authority and reception centers in Bavaria, modeled after existing ones, for the repatriation of migrants with slim prospects of staying in Germany.
  2. The CDU's plan includes accommodating migrants in these state-run centers for up to two years to relieve the burden on local authorities, with up to 239 people being previously deported in Thuringia each year.
  3. Migrants from safe countries of origin, such as several Balkan countries and recently declared countries like Moldova and Georgia, could potentially be housed in these centers, according to the CDU's proposals.
  4. Schard, a migration politician, emphasized the need for a more extensive network of state-owned accommodation centers, with an estimated doubling of the current capacity needed to effectively address the issue.
  5. The state parliamentary majority for this bill remains uncertain, as the Thuringian CDU relies on votes from the AfD, FDP, and independents to pass their legislative amendments, despite facing criticism from the Left and the Greens.
  6. Critics, including the Left's König-Preuss and the Greens' Rothe-Beinlich, argue that the proposed legislation is inhumane and relies on right-wing majorities, targeting asylum seekers based on their prospects of staying in Germany and housing them in "anchor centers."
  7. The Left and the Greens condemn the potential implementation of these repatriation centers and harassment of asylum seekers, calling on the CDU to withdraw the proposed bill altogether.

Source: www.stern.de

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