Grünen-Chefin Franziska Brantner has harshly criticized the rejection of asylum seekers at German borders. “In times when we need more Europe, we are reminded this week of the war-torn situations from which we came in Europe and that we are lucky to have peace, it is not acceptable, not particularly good, if one does not act together with partners, with Polish friends, with Austrian friends, who also reject them” said Brantner to the “Frühstart” program from RTL and ntv on Thursday.
According to Brantner, the country’s economy and internal security will also suffer from the border controls. “I wonder where all these officials will be taken from, who now come to the border. They are the main train stations, they are the airport, they are crime hotspots in this country. They will be missing there” said Brantner. “So a little less security in other places for a signal at the border.”
The German Police Union (DPolG) holds the instruction from Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) as helpful. “Through the withdrawal of the oral instruction from 2015, the Federal Police can now and will be able to reject people more consistently at the borders” said Heiko Teggatz, the President of the German Police Union, to the “Welt” (Friday edition). According to his opinion, the national law would be applied in the case of border controls. “Paragraph 18 of the Asylum Act is therefore applicable and prescribes rejections.”
Germany has made so-called return agreements with all neighboring countries. The content of these agreements is also when a person is considered to have entered. “This is only the case when the entry control is completed” said Teggatz. “With a rejection, a person is therefore hindered in their entry. They are therefore fictitiously still in the respective neighboring country” he argued. “An agreement is therefore only necessary when a person should be pushed back across the `green border` after a successful entry. However, these agreements have also long been agreed and are also the subject of the concluded return agreements.”
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has clarified in the case of H.T. against Germany and Greece that rejections without individual scrutiny and without access to legal remedies are contrary to law. The court stated that states are obliged to ensure that people are not returned to a country where they face a threat to their fundamental human rights and that this requires careful individual case examination.