30/12/2024
In a move to tackle the persistent issue of failed deportations due to absconding asylum seekers, Saxony is laying the groundwork for what could become a pivotal change in migration policy. The state is planning to establish what they’re calling a “departure center” for rejected asylum seekers, a project that’s similar to something we proposed with the Homeland Party.
Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) has outlined the initial blueprint for this centre, stating, “We will start with 20 or 30 places and gather experience.” The aim is to relieve local municipalities from the burden of managing “not very simple cases.”
Schuster emphasised that the centre would eventually scale up to around 100 places, but the real game-changer would be the fluidity of occupants, ensuring a consistent outflow of migrants.
The core idea behind the departure center isn’t just about housing; it’s about ensuring those who should leave, do leave.
Schuster stated, “Some of those affected ask themselves why they are still in Germany at all.” This center isn’t meant to be just a detention facility but it will have strict rules. “Residents will have to stay in the building at night,” Schuster added, with further restrictions for those not cooperating with the process.
This initiative is a pilot, with no fixed location yet, as Schuster points out, “We deliberately called it a pilot project because we want to experiment.” The lack of a national blueprint for such centres underscores the innovative, if not experimental, nature of this project.
Currently, more than 60 percent of deportation attempts in Saxony fail, primarily because those meant to be deported can’t be located. “We need a procedure to make it more difficult to abscond,” Schuster argued.
The coalition agreement between CDU and SPD has backed this initiative, aiming to test how effective such a center can be in reducing the administrative load on local governments and increasing the success rate of deportations. The concept of a residence requirement is central, ensuring that those who are supposed to leave have fewer opportunities to disappear into the community.
In Saxony, with over 27,400 migrants currently in asylum procedures and 11,951 officially obliged to leave the country, the stakes are high. By the end of November this year, 864 rejected asylum seekers were deported, slightly up from the 845 in the previous year, with most returns to Georgia, Tunisia, and North Macedonia.
These are still extremely low numbers but jts a huge step in the right direction in terms of remigration.
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