German parliament approves legislation easing deportations of rejected asylum-seekers

(18 Jan 2024) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Berlin - 18 January 2024 1. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser walking to podium 2. People attending parliament session 3. SOUNDBITE (German) Nancy Faeser, German Interior Minister: “If you don’t have the right to stay in Germany, you have to leave Germany. This is a prerequisite for migration to be accepted in society as a whole and for integration to work.“ 4. Cameramen 5. SOUNDBITE (German) Nancy Faeser, German Interior Minister: “This law also supports us in the fight against organized crime. It makes it easier for us to expel members of criminal organizations. Our principle is and remains that those who operate in criminal networks must also suffer the consequences, including as far as the right of residence is concerned.“ 6. German Eagle 7. SOUNDBITE (German) Nancy Faeser, German Interior Minister: “Our principle is and remains that those who operate in criminal networks must also suffer the consequences, also with regard to the right of residence. This also applies in particular to people smugglers and their inhumane business. that is why we are increasing the minimum and maximum penalties in this area and also facilitating the deportation of convicted people smugglers.“ 8. Parliament dome 9. SOUNDBITE (German) Gottfried Curio, AfD party: “And the CDU chancellor (Merkel) was already just as brazenly touting the idea of “backtracking, backtracking and backtracking again“, fooling the Germans into believing in a national effort. In reality, however, the number of repatriations has continued to fall. These are untenable conditions and we finally need a policy that enforces the constitutional duties of a government, and the AfD, ladies and gentlemen, is just that.“ 10. Cameras 11. Lawmakers of governing parties voting for legislation 12. AfD party members voting against legislation- speaker of the house Wolfgang Kubicki announcing the approval of the legislation STORYLINE: The German parliament on Thursday approved legislation that is intended to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers as Chancellor Olaf Scholz seeks to defuse migration as a political problem. The legislation foresees increasing the maximum length of pre-deportation custody from 10 days to 28 and specifically facilitating the deportation of people who are members of a criminal organization. It also authorizes residential searches for documentation that enables officials to firmly establish a person’s identity, as well as remove the authorities’ obligation to give advance notice of deportations in some cases. Germany’s shelters for migrants and refugees have been filling up in recent months as significant numbers of asylum-seekers add to more than 1 million Ukrainians who have arrived since the start of Russia’s war in their homeland. The majority of rejected asylum-seekers in Germany will still have at least temporary permission to stay for reasons that can include illness, a child with residency status or a lack of ID. It remains to be seen how much difference the new rules will make. Deportations can fail for a variety of reasons, including those the legislation addresses but also a lack of cooperation by migrants’ home countries. Germany is trying to strike agreements with various nations to address that problem while also creating opportunities for legal immigration. Scholz sharply condemned the plot at the meeting in November, which allegedly also included members of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party. AP Video by Fanny Brodesen Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: