2023-09-07 18:18:56
Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition, demands extending the list of so-called safe countries to facilitate the expulsion of asylum seekers whose files are refused.
German opposition leader Friedrich Merz called on the government to put new countries, including three in North Africa, on the list of “safe countries of origin” to facilitate the deportation of rejected refugees.
Moldova, Georgia, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria or India are countries of origin with recognition rates of around 0.1 percent, he pointed out. “These countries must be recognized as safe countries of origin, so that we can immediately send back” rejected refugees.
“The fundamental right to asylum has limits in the recognition of real grounds for asylum,” added Merz, who is also leader of the Union group in parliament (Christian Democratic Union of Germany and Christian Social Union in Bavaria).
Merz accused the Green Party of blocking the inclusion of more countries on the list, noting that there is now a “second major refugee crisis after that of 2015/2016”. The government “must finally take this seriously,” he said.
In Germany, a country is considered a “safe country of origin” when its population does not run the risk of persecution and the state is able to protect it from it. In this case, people from these countries do not need protection in Germany.
Currently, in addition to the countries of the European Union, Germany considers as “safe countries of origin” Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ghana, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Senegal and Serbia.
There is regular talk of including Algeria, Georgia, Morocco and Tunisia in this list. It should be noted that the government intends to classify at least Moldova and Georgia as “safe countries of origin”.
A draft law which has not yet received parliamentary approval indicates that the majority of asylum applications submitted by Georgians and Moldovans are rejected. The rate of recognition of the right to asylum for these two nationalities reached less than 0.1 percent in 2022 and the first half of 2023.Dpa (German Press Agency), Africa department
#German #opposition #deport #rejected #refugees #dpa