Germany is introducing measures to tackle its migrant crisis earlier than previously expected, a top government official said yesterday, allowing accelerated deportation procedures to begin as early as next week.
Germany expects a record influx of more than 800,000 migrants this year, by far the most in the European Union.
The tighter rules aim to speed up asylum and extradition procedures for migrants from southeastern Europe, in order to focus on refugees from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Peter Altmaier, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, said the new measures could now be expected to come into effect before a previously foreseen start date of November 1.
“That would be a good signal,” he told ARD television.
Berlin seeks related deal to deport Balkan migrants
“We want to get better and faster this year at the deportation of rejected applicants who have no claim to remain here,” added Altmaier, who Merkel appointed earlier this month to oversee her government’s handling of the refugee crisis. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also launched an initiative aimed at speeding up the deportation procedure for unsuccessful asylum applicants from the Balkans.
In a joint letter to the foreign ministers of six Balkan countries, seen by Reuters, Mr de Maiziere and Steinmeier asked them to accept so-called “laissez-passer” documents. These papers are issued by the country the unsuccessful asylum seekers are deported from, in this case Germany. Unsuccessful asylum-seekers often cannot be sent back to their home countries if they do not have passports and getting laissez-passer paperwork recognised often takes a long time.
Support for Ms Merkel’s conservatives is falling due to concern over the refugee crisis.
Many Germans feel the country cannot cope with the influx, and a poll for ARD showed three-quarters of Germans expected the refugees to change German society.
Several European leaders are due to meet tomorrow to tackle the migrant crisis in the western Balkans as thousands trying to reach Germany are trapped in deteriorating conditions.
Hungary has responded to the largest migration wave Europe has seen since World War Two by building a steel fence along its borders with Serbia and Croatia.
“The more fences are erected the greater the misery,” Mr Altmaier said. “Europe must see to it that this movement and this influx is orderly and structured.”
The head of Germany’s police trade union, Rainer Wendt, said the crisis was stretching police resources thin.
“I have personally told the Chancellor ‘we can’t be in two places at once’,” Mr Wendt told newspaper Die Welt.