Spahn wants to deport refugees to Ghana and Rwanda

The processing of asylum procedures in non-EU countries is the core demand in the CDU's new migration concept. Parliamentary group deputy Spahn hopes that this will have a deterrent effect on potential migrants.

Jens Spahn, deputy leader of the CDU parliamentary group, is in favor of deporting all refugees arriving in the EU irregularly to Ghana, Rwanda or non-EU countries in Eastern Europe. "If we do this consistently for four, six, eight weeks, then the numbers will drop dramatically," the CDU politician told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper. Many people would no longer make the journey to the European Union "if it is clear that it will lead to a safe third country outside the EU within 48 hours", Spahn explained.

The third country proposal forms the core of the migration concept in the draft of the new CDU policy program presented last Monday. The aim is "contractual agreements whereby refugees are granted an asylum procedure there and can remain there safely if they are granted protection", explained Spahn. "Rwanda would probably be willing to do this, Ghana possibly too." Talks should also be held with Eastern European countries such as Georgia and Moldova.

The Geneva Convention on Refugees does not state that protection from war persecution must be granted in the EU, Spahn emphasized. If it is ensured that persecuted people in third countries "are given a safe haven, are well looked after there and can live without fear, then the objective of the Refugee Convention is fulfilled".

The model proposed by the CDU of flying out arriving asylum seekers to third countries as quickly as possible in order to process asylum procedures there follows the example of the UK. In April 2022, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed this approach, according to which refugees should be taken to Rwanda. However, implementation is proving difficult and the project has so far failed due to legal hurdles. Most recently, the Supreme Court ruled that deportations to Rwanda violate international human rights laws. The British government then concluded a new agreement with the authoritarian country to address concerns about the security situation there. The British House of Commons has since approved the asylum pact by a narrow majority.