German Municipal Leaders Urge Tougher Migration Policy
Top officials from Germany’s municipal associations are calling on the government to take a harder line on migration. André Berghegger, the chief executive of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that the government should launch a repatriation offensive for asylum seekers without a prospect of staying in the country.
Berghegger emphasized that migrants who lose their right to stay due to criminal offenses should be returned to their countries of origin. “Cities are still at the limit in terms of accommodating, providing for and integrating refugees” he said, adding that a sustainable cap on illegal migration must be achieved.
The government should conclude more migration and return agreements with the countries of origin, Berghegger urged and the repatriation of asylum seekers without a prospect of staying in the country must function better and faster.
Helmut Dedy, the chief executive of the German Towns Association, also called for more financial support from the federal and state governments for the integration tasks of municipalities. “More and more tasks without additional funding is not a viable option” he told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, adding that the number of new asylum seekers may have decreased in comparison to previous years, but cities still have to care for the people who are already here.
Achim Brötel, the president of the German Counties Association, welcomed the recent pushbacks at the borders ordered by the Federal Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt and urged that this course be continued and supplemented with further steps, including the temporary restrictions on family reunification and the suspension of voluntary integration programs.
The decline in asylum applications does not automatically lead to a decrease in the overall burden on municipalities, Brötel said, pointing out that around four million people have arrived in Germany over the past ten years and none of them have simply vanished into thin air.