Several German federal states are planning to increase the number of detention spaces for individuals subject to deportation, according to a report in the “Welt” newspaper.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Refugees and Integration in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) stated there is a nationwide – and therefore also within NRW – increased need for detention capacity. The number of individuals with deportation orders held in the Büren detention facility rose by nearly 40 percent from 2023 to 2024. The spokesperson also noted that capacity in other federal states is regularly at its limit. As of August 5th, Büren held 151 individuals subject to deportation, representing an occupancy rate of approximately 86 percent of its 175 available spaces.
NRW intends to establish additional detention spaces at a new facility in Mönchengladbach. Bavaria plans to do the same at a new location in Passau and Saxony-Anhalt in Volkstedt. Volkstedt, which currently does not have its own deportation detention facility, is slated to accommodate 30 spaces. The Bavarian project in Passau envisions 100 spaces for deportable men. A spokesperson for the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior explained that an additional accommodation building with another 100 spaces could be used flexibly for pre-trial and custodial detention or deportation detention.
The Interior Ministry of Brandenburg stated that the likely need regarding the size and capacity and conceptual questions for a deportation detention facility in Brandenburg, are currently being examined. Rhineland-Palatinate intends to utilize its own capacity in the future and no longer make it available to other states. A spokesperson for the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Justice said that an expansion is planned in the form of making all 60 available spaces at the Glückstadt facility available, contingent upon sufficient staffing.
Currently, eleven of the sixteen federal states operate their own deportation detention facilities, with Thuringia joining them this week with an initial ten spaces, which are slated to be increased to 37. This brings the total number of such facilities nationwide to twelve (with Bavaria operating two), providing a combined total of just under 790 spaces. Hamburg, Saarland and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern will continue to utilize spaces in other federal states.
According to a “Welt” survey of the federal states, the current number of deportation detention spaces is as follows: Hamburg, 21 spaces in the Glückstadt (16) and Darmstadt (5) facilities; NRW, 175 spaces in Büren; Baden-Württemberg, 51 spaces in Pforzheim; Lower Saxony, 48 spaces in Hanover; Bavaria, a total of 240 spaces at the Eichstätt and Hof facilities; Berlin, ten spaces; Bremen, 17 spaces; Saxony, 58 spaces; Hesse (Darmstadt), 80 spaces; Rhineland-Palatinate (Ingelheim), 40 spaces; and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 14 spaces within the Schleswig-Holstein deportation detention center in Glückstadt.