Faeser defends deportations and hopes for skilled workers
In the migration debate, Interior Minister Faeser defends her tough stance on deportations. These must take place "quickly and reliably". However, the country is also dependent on skilled foreign workers. Faeser hopes that the new immigration law could bring in more of them.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser has defended her deportation law as a prerequisite for social acceptance of migration. "Anyone who has no right to stay must leave Germany," she said in the Bundestag during the first reading of the draft law. "We must also be able to enforce this principle - otherwise we are damaging our community."
Germany has made an amazing development, Faeser emphasized: from a nation that caused two world wars to a country where people seek protection. "But for us to be this country, we also need clear rules and laws." This includes those who do not have the right to stay having to leave the country again - "quickly and reliably". This is a prerequisite for migration to be recognized in society.
In practice, there have always been difficulties with this, said the Minister. The draft law to improve returns would now create the necessary conditions to consistently implement expulsions and returns.
Smugglers should leave Germany more quickly
In particular, the planned law provides for extended detention options for those subject to deportation and more rights for the police during searches. The aim is also to speed up the deportation of smugglers. With this law, the federal government is responding to the significant increase in the number of asylum seekers in Germany and the growing shortage of accommodation for refugees in many municipalities.
However, even before the first debate in the Bundestag, Faeser was also confident that the reform of the naturalization law would bring more skilled foreign workers to Germany. The modernization of the citizenship law is "a decisive key" for competitiveness, Faeser told the Handelsblatt. "We will only attract the best minds if they can become a full part of our society in the foreseeable future, with all democratic rights."
"Highly qualified people will choose Germany above all if we also give them the prospect of finding a complete home here for themselves and their families," said Faeser. In particular, the reform is intended to shorten naturalization periods and make dual citizenship possible in principle.
Union criticizes the timing of the immigration law
The CDU/CSU has major concerns. Hesse's Minister President Boris Rhein told the "Handelsblatt" newspaper: "The federal government would be well advised to postpone the reform of the citizenship law." The timing of the project was wrong. "In a situation in which irregular migration is clearly too high, the traffic light government is questioning a social consensus - and is creating new incentives for migration without need."
Rhein called for a "clear commitment to Israel" before any naturalization. Faeser was open to further specifying the criteria for obtaining a German passport in the parliamentary process. However, the reform already provides for "strict standards" that exclude naturalization for those who would deny Israel's right to exist.
The draft law specifies the previously required commitment to the free democratic basic order. It clarifies that "anti-Semitic, racist, xenophobic or other inhuman acts" are incompatible with the Basic Law's guarantee of human dignity. In principle, only those who can support themselves and dependent family members from their own resources should be granted German citizenship.
Nancy Faeser, during the debate about migration, highlighted the need for a balance between enforcing deportations and welcoming skilled foreign workers. She suggested that the new immigration law could help address the skills shortage in Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government is facing criticism from the CDU/CSU over the timing of the immigration law reform. Hesse's Minister President Boris Rhine has expressed concerns about the project, stating that it might create new incentives for migration without necessity in a context of high irregular migration.
Faeser's proposed immigration law aims to simplify the naturalization process for skilled foreign workers, including the possibility of dual citizenship. However, it also includes strict standards to exclude naturalization for individuals who deny Israel's right to exist or engage in forms of discrimination, such as anti-Semitism.
Source: www.ntv.de
