The Berlin Administrative Court decided that asylum seekers cannot be turned away at border checks unless the process follows the EU’s Dublin Regulation, DW reported.
The decision comes after Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt, just days after taking office, closed Germany’s borders to asylum seekers early in May to curb migration into the country. Chancellor Friedrich Merz justified the move by stating that migrants had passed through several other EU countries that are safe for them to settle in.
The Case
Three Somali nationals, who requested asylum in the city of Frankfurt an der Oder at the German-Polish border, were turned away at a train station and deported on 9 May.
According to the ruling of the Berlin court, asylum applications must be considered before they are rejected. The investigation also found that at least one of the migrants had a legitimate claim to asylum. The decision is not open to appeal.
The court emphasized that government policy could not generally be justified under German law. It also stressed the importance of considering EU law, particularly provisions related to the Dublin system.
The Dublin Procedure
The Dublin III Regulation, sometimes referred to as the Dublin Procedure or System, is a paramount part of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), aiming to determine “which Member State is responsible for the examination of an application for international protection” to “guarantee that each person has effective access to the asylum procedure and that each application will be examined by one Member State only.”
In accordance with the procedure, authorities should have transferred the asylum seekers to the country that oversaw their entry into the EU, where fingerprints are to be taken and a claim for asylum should be filed. The regulation is aimed at preventing applications in several member states. The procedure is often criticized for being overly complicated and putting significant strain on member states at the external borders.
The conservative government attempted to justify their policy by invoking Article 72 of the Treaty on the Functioning of European Union but the court rejected this due to lack of proof of a threat to the country that could justify the suspension of EU Law.
Changes to Legislation
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt defended the new government’s tougher migration policy and said the government would seek other solutions with fellow member states.
“Asylum applications at the border are also low because word has quickly got around that entry into the Federal Republic of Germany is no longer guaranteed despite asylum applications,” he told Welt am Sonntag in an interview.
The government is now attempting to redefine “safe countries of origin” to be able to send migrants to non-EU states designated to be safe. The European Commission proposed a similar change to policies earlier this month.
Dobrindt has said he would like to change the law so that the government can decide which countries should be categorized as safe.
This would allow more deportations, as migrants’ home countries could be listed as “safe,” giving grounds for the German government to deny claims.
Many criticized the policies for being “unnecessarily complex” and “undemocratic,” as they jeopardize migrants’ protection.
The CDU-CSU-led government has argued that it was forced to crack down on migration; an issue that far-right party AfD has capitalized on and gained them significant support during the last election.
