Germany Halts Granting Asylum to Syrians En Masse – Reports

Sputnik — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 09:14:56 +0000

AP Photo/ Raad Adayleh

Decisions concerning asylum applications have allegedly been postponed for several weeks as German authorities are set to reassess the security situation in Syria, according to media reports. Last year, Germany’s interior minister decided to extend a deportation moratorium for people from the country, citing the possible danger.

The German Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has apparently been pushing back asylum decisions in recent weeks, the German media group Funke reports. According to the group’s newspapers, migration authorities are postponing applications mainly of people from Syria, who are generally granted subsidiary protection.

The country’s Interior Ministry clarified at the media’s request that this concerns cases for which the proposed changes to the BAMF guidelines would be relevant when making a decision.

The report suggests that the migration body re-evaluated the security situation in Syria and updated its internal guidelines in mid-March; however, it is not publicly known yet what the assessment was. The BAMF is subordinate to the Interior Ministry, thus the latter needs to decide on the guidelines, which has not happened yet.

The report says that Interior Ministry, headed by Horst Seehofer, known for his hard-line stance on migration, is to coordinate an assessment of the security situation in Syria with the Foreign Ministry.

In November 2018, the country’s authorities extended a moratorium on sending rejected Syrian asylum seekers, including known criminals, home to their war-torn country. The moratorium was implemented in 2012 and renewed several times thereafter. The decision was based on a report issued by Germany’s foreign minister that characterized the current situation in Syria as “complex, still difficult and volatile”, a description that was applied both to territories controlled by militants and to regions where Damascus has reintroduced the rule of law.

The country’s refugee policy has long been a source of discord in Germany. Last year, protests against Angela Merkel’s refugee policy shook several towns. They were prompted by acts of violence, including gang rape and murder, allegedly perpetrated by migrants. In late October, thousands rallied in Freiburg after seven Syrians were arrested on suspicion of raping an 18-year-old student. In September, the German city of Chemnitz was rocked by anti-immigrant protests, led by right-wing activists, after a local carpenter was allegedly stabbed to death by a migrant from Syria and another from Iraq following an altercation.

Source: https://sputniknews.com/europe/201904271074517467-germany-syrian-asylum-postpone/

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The post Germany Halts Granting Asylum to Syrians En Masse – Reports first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

German refugee agency head wants hard line on deportations

Deutsche Welle — Sat, 10 Nov 2018 08:22:33 +0000

The new president of Germany’s BAMF refugee agency says authorities must apply rules on deportation strictly. His predecessor was sacked over allegedly lax asylum decisions.

German authorities should apply asylum law consistently and strictly even in difficult individual cases, the new head of Germany’s refugee agency said in an interview published on Saturday.

Hans-Eckhard Sommer said he wanted to take a tough line on deportations, telling news magazine Der Spiegel that law and order should be enforced in this area as is already done in the case of violations of taxation laws.

When asked if he saw himself as a hard-liner, Sommer, who used to work in the Interior Ministry in the southern state of Bavaria, said he did consider himself as one “if advocating for the consistent application of existing law is enough to give you such a title.”

While in Bavaria, Sommer was known as a “tough dog” in government circles.

‘Bremen was bad’

Sommer, 57, took over as president of the German Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in June after his predecessor, Jutta Cordt, was dismissed from the position by Interior Minister Horst Seehoferover questionable asylum decisions at the agency’s Bremen branch.

“What happened in Bremen was bad,” Sommer said, adding that auditors had ” found errors to a serious extent among a few employees, where consciously manipulative behavior was at play.”

‘Counterproductive’ resistance

Sommer also defended the establishment of controversial holding and processing centers for asylum-seekers, known under the acronym of “Anker” in German, which means “anchor” in English.

The centers are intended to accommodate asylum-seekers with few chances of having their applications accepted until they are deported.

Sommer criticized opposition to the centers from various German states, saying that many states wanted to accommodate even those who had no prospect of remaining in towns and municipalities.

“I consider that to be counterproductive,” Sommer said.

Blown-up scandal

Sommer’s severe assessment of the gravity of errors committed in Bremen is somewhat at odds with revelations contained in reports by various media organizations.

The affair in Bremen was held up as a major scandal by many of those in Germany opposed to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s liberal refugee policies.

tj/rc (KNA, dpa)

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/german-refugee-agency-head-wants-hard-line-on-deportations/a-46239247

[Disclaimer]

The post German refugee agency head wants hard line on deportations first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

German Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

Germany Halts Granting Asylum to Syrians En Masse – Reports

German refugee agency head wants hard line on deportations