Germany ( Europe Brief News): Germany’s government faces a legal setback as a Berlin court rules that turning away asylum seekers at the border violates administrative and asylum law.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who pledged to curb illegal immigration during the election campaign, has been hit hard by the decision. Alexander Dobrindt, the interior minister, says he will keep rejecting asylum requests at the border.
The German government gave the border police orders last month to send back asylum seekers who did not have legitimate travel documents.
The administration claims that Germany’s neighbors are secure nations where asylum applicants can apply without any problems. For vulnerable populations like youngsters and expectant mothers, Germany continues to make an exception.
On May 9, three Somalis who had been deported to Poland from the border town of Frankfurt a der Oder appeared in court. The judge decided in their favor, holding that the Dublin procedure for asylum seekers should have applied to their case.
The Dublin Regulation states that before someone can be deported, it is necessary to identify which nation is in charge of their asylum case. This is frequently the country from which the migrant initially entered the EU.
How does this ruling change Germany’s approach to border asylum policies?
Asylum seekers from adjacent EU nations can no longer be immediately turned away by border police; instead, they must look into their claims in line with the EU’s Dublin Regulation, which establishes which member state handles asylum processing.
The decision nullifies the federal government’s strategy, implemented under Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and Chancellor Friedrich Merz, to decrease the number of asylum seekers admitted by turning away applicants at the border without considering their claims.
The court stressed that all asylum seekers must have their cases appropriately evaluated, even though vulnerable groups were exempted.
The decision permits the processing of asylum seekers’ claims at or close to border crossings, preserving a certain level of border control while upholding legal requirements, even though they cannot be categorically refused admission.
