Berlin, Germany – Brandenburg’s Minister President Dietmar Woidke, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), has called for a hardening of the country’s migration policy, including the controversial rejection of asylum seekers at the borders.
In an interview with the German newspaper “Welt am Sonntag”, Woidke emphasized the need for a new, effective and stable federal government, adding that a revised migration policy is essential to ensure the safety of German citizens and to fulfill the country’s humanitarian responsibilities. He stated that the government must combat illegal migration, which includes border controls and rejections at the borders.
Woidke also stressed the need for a faster and more efficient return of people who have entered the country through another EU state, as well as the swift and consistent deportation of individuals who pose a threat to others. He referred to a series of attacks in Germany, including in Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg and Munich and stated that the current migration policy of the past decade must be put to the test, as the people of Germany expect a change.
According to Heiko Teggatz, the chairman of the DPolG Federal Police Union, the German Federal Police could implement stricter border controls with rejections using the existing personnel. Teggatz told the “Welt am Sonntag” that the decision to implement rejections would not require additional personnel, as the police already conduct controls at the borders, using both open and covert methods.
Daniel Thym, an asylum law expert at the University of Konstanz, considers rejections of asylum seekers to be legally risky, but not necessarily illegal. He stated that the chance of the rejections being accepted by the courts is higher if the government makes exceptions. The government could, for example, exclude certain border sections, such as the Danish-German border, or certain groups, such as families with children, from the rejections and could also time-limit the rejections.