Germany has stepped up concerning asylum-seekers whose request for asylum has been rejected, as well as those who are rightfully there. An increased volume of those sent back to their origin countries deemed safe seems to be in keeping with the EU’s stance on the matter. In some parts of the country, mandatory work is seems to be a solution beneficial for the state, as well as to those who are subjects to these decisions.
After the introduction of different laws pertaining to asylum-seekers and those who are permitted to stay in Germany, new projects and initiatives have also sprung in various areas of the country. These include integration measures, as well as strict plans to expel those whose asylum applications have been rejected by the authorities.
Brandenburg Showing the Way
According to reporting by German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Central Aliens Authority’s departure collection point at BER airport is seeing an increase in the number of refugees scheduled for deportation from Brandenburg. 396 individuals were scheduled to be flown back to their home countries or the countries where they had first applied for asylum after entering the EU in the first half of 2024. In response to a request from Tina Fischer, a member of the SPD state parliament, the Interior Ministry in Potsdam made this announcement. Just 168 people were able to find temporary housing at the collection point in the first half of 2023. The figure shot up to 231 in the second half of the year.
Because they had either entered Germany from a safe third country or had already applied for asylum in another EU nation, the refugees who were set to depart from Brandenburg did not meet the requirements for a German asylum procedure. Other refugees were required to leave after their asylum application was denied, so they either had no right of residence or were in exit custody. Those in exit custody would be permitted to leave the country voluntarily, the Interior Ministry guaranteed. By the end of June this year, there were five charter flights, compared to eleven the previous year, according to the information.
Requirement to Work: Mutually Beneficial
In the Saale-Orla district, asylum seekers have been required to work since the beginning of the year. Parts of the Thuringian state government had sharply criticized the situation. From the authorities’ point of view, the measure has proven successful, but several people have also left the district – or gone into hiding.
Refugees have been required to work in this district since the beginning of the year. They should be called upon for charitable activities and receive 80 eurocents per hour in addition to their social benefits. The background is the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act. The introduction of the measure triggered a nationwide response. There was clear criticism from refugee representatives and representatives of the Red-Red-Green (Linke-SPD-Greens) government coalition in Erfurt.
At the beginning of compulsory work, most people were still working within official facilities, the district office said. That was easier to organize. Among other things, they mowed the lawn or cleaned the common areas. Since the spring, more and more people have been deployed externally, for example at sports clubs, cities and communities. „In almost all cases, this involves work which would otherwise be left behind due to a lack of human resources or would only be carried out much later.“
District Administrator Götz Ulrich (CDU) from the Burgenland district in Saxony-Anhalt – where this structure was also tested – also rated the project positively. In any case, it is less about the work done and more about the integration of migrants. He sees the work assignments as lived integration. It’s always about „structuring people’s everyday lives“.
“Anyone who is forced to wait and do nothing in the initial reception center for many months and then in shared accommodation will lose skills that are necessary to take up work subject to social security contributions. We know this from (German) long-term unemployed people in citizens’ money“, Ulrich explained to German newspaper Welt. In his opinion, charitable work therefore indirectly prepares people for later, taxable employment.