- Discussion on home visits by refugees
Rumors persist that refugees may temporarily return to their home countries even without legally valid reasons. The case of Afghan asylum seekers has reignited this debate, although no official numbers are available. The background is an investigation by RTL that suggests travel agencies in Hamburg are allegedly organizing trips to the Hindukush for people from Afghanistan.
The Federal Government's Commissioner for Migration, Joachim Stamp (FDP), now warns refugees against traveling to their home countries for leisure or vacation purposes. He told Bild: "Germany must remain open-minded, but not foolish. The authorities must ensure that people who have applied for protection here, but are vacationing in their home country, immediately lose their protected status and cannot remain in Germany. Period."
Protected status after home trips is being reviewed
Travel to the country of origin can indeed be permissible in individual cases - for example, due to a serious illness or the death of close family members. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) in Nuremberg states that in each individual case, it is checked whether the granted protection should be withdrawn after known home trips.
However, the authority does not have exact data on how often protection has been withdrawn. The Bamf publishes a general statistics on protection reviews - which also take place for other reasons than home trips. However, there is no detailed breakdown of why a review or withdrawal of the protection decision was or is being considered.
On the permissibility of home trips, a spokesperson said: "In this regard, the Bamf generally assumes, in line with case law, that these are only allowed under specific conditions." For example, a short return trip to fulfill a moral obligation - such as attending a funeral or visiting a seriously ill family member - is not a reason for withdrawal.
Home visits have been publicly discussed before
Debates about home visits by people seeking protection in Germany have taken place in previous years, for example, with people from Syria. In 2017, an AfD application in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament caused a stir, calling for an investigation into home stays by refugees.
The Interior Ministry then stated, based on a survey of foreigner authorities, that around 160 cases had been known since 2014 in which people had returned to their home countries once or more. A certain degree of underreporting is to be expected. Personal, family, or business reasons were mentioned as examples.
In 2017, the North Rhine-Westphalia state government stated in response to a minor inquiry that, according to the information available, the refugees in question were not traveling to their home countries to "vacation" there.
- Despite the warnings from Joachim Stamp, some refugees might still consider visiting their home countries, as shown by the investigation suggesting trips to Afghanistan by travel agencies in Hamburg.
- The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees has been scrutinizing the issue of protected status after home trips, acknowledging that short returns for specific reasons, such as attending funerals or visiting ill family members, are not considered reasons for withdrawal.
