Berlin: A verdict by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is poised to significantly influence Germany’s immigration policies, particularly its approach to determining safe countries of origin for potential deportations. Safe countries of origin are those where citizens are not subjected to state persecution, based on assessments by the German government or the European Union. The accuracy of these assessments often sparks debates that frequently end up in court.
According to Deutsche Welle, the ECJ recently ruled that EU countries can designate safe countries of origin to expedite asylum procedures if the sources for their assessment are disclosed. The court emphasized that for a country to be considered safe, it must offer adequate protection to its entire population, including minorities.
Germany’s new coalition government, comprising the center-right Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) along with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), had plans to expand the list of safe countries. They agreed to classify a country as safe if fewer than 5% of asylum seekers from that country have been accepted over a span of at least five years. However, the ECJ ruling may complicate the implementation of these plans. The interior ministry, responsible for asylum policy, stated that the ruling will be reviewed.
The German government still intends to reform the process of determining safe countries of origin, planning to make such determinations by decree, thereby bypassing both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The coalition has already submitted a draft bill on this issue, awaiting a vote post the parliament’s summer recess. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has criticized the current state of deportations and aims to remove obstacles to effectively limit illegal migration. He highlighted the legal representation entitlement for those ordered to leave as one such obstacle, which he hopes to abolish to speed up deportations.
Dobrindt is also in favor of EU-wide joint centers for the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers, an idea discussed at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Copenhagen. He argued that collective EU efforts could be more effective than individual member state negotiations with non-EU countries.
Dobrindt believes that many individuals arriving in Germany were not eligible for asylum and hopes that the planned reforms will deter those from safe countries of origin from making the journey. Opposition members, however, view the ECJ ruling as a victory for human rights and call for changes in the federal government’s asylum policies. Green Party MP Filiz Polat criticized the plan to classify safe countries by decree, emphasizing the need for oversight by the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
Clara Bünger from the Left Party has urged a comprehensive review of the safe countries list, advocating for the removal of Georgia and Moldova due to human rights concerns in regions like Abkhazia and South Ossetia. She also contends that the ECJ ruling challenges the government’s plans to classify countries like Tunisia and Algeria as safe, given the legal punishments for same-sex relations in these nations, which conflicts with the ECJ’s criteria for safety.