Fewer rights for asylum seekers in Germany in response to the Solingen attack

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  Charlotte Waajers

  journalist from Germany

Germany is going to cut the benefits of some asylum seekers. In addition, it is now allowed to carry a knife in fewer places. The new package of measures is a response to the knife attack in Solingen last August, in which three people were killed. The suspect is an asylum seeker who has exhausted all legal remedies.

Many have been criticizing the package in recent weeks. Opponents believe it will not go far enough. But Chancellor Scholz’s party, the SPD, believes the package is far too tight. Some of the supporters say that the party is increasingly going along with right-wing rhetoric that lumps terrorism and refugees together.

With the new measures, renamed the ‘safety package’, asylum seekers will have fewer rights. For example, anyone who has a residence permit but returns to their home country will lose that residence permit. At first there were no exceptions, but after advice from experts and debate within the government parties, people are allowed to leave Germany for a parent’s funeral.

In addition, someone who entered the EU through another country and is also registered is less entitled to benefits in Germany. That entitlement is limited to bed, bath and bread only (in German: Bett, Brot, Seife). Most asylum seekers arrive in Germany by land through one of the surrounding EU countries, although this does not always mean that they are registered there.

Here too, after discussion, an exception was decided: the right to benefits can only be limited or deleted if someone can legally and practically return to the EU country they entered.

In addition, the intention was to give the police more powers to track people with automatic facial and voice recognition software, but the Federal Council has so far put this off.

The rejected asylum seeker who carried out the knife attack in Solingen “in the name of IS” should no longer be in Germany. As the man had previously entered the EU through Bulgaria and registered there, he would be sent back to that country. The Bulgarian government agreed, but something went wrong on the German side and the expulsion failed. How that happened is still under investigation.

Discussions had already arisen in Germany about migration and strict security measures after the murder of a police officer in Mannheim.

Some Germans see these events as new proof that migration in general is dangerous. It is a message announced in the parliament by the radical right AfD, which talks again about ‘Messermigration’. After the murder, the Christian Democratic opposition CDU/CSU called for a general halt to the admission of asylum seekers.

Under this pressure, Chancellor Scholz has already promised to speed up exports and tighten border controls with neighboring countries (including the Netherlands), with the aim of combating illegal migration. -legal and terrorist. The new folder is now added here.

Although a majority in the Bundestag voted for the plans, there is criticism from all sides. The Christian Democrats and the AfD believe that the measures do not go far enough and are not effective.

But Pro Asyl also sees nothing in the package. The refugee advocacy group says the new rules mean refugees who have to apply for benefits in another EU country could lose their right to a bed, bath and bread after two weeks in Germany. .

And the more difficult course also leads to dissatisfaction within Scholz’s party supporters. “This policy puts a whole group of people under general suspicion of terrorism because of the actions of one person and severely limits their rights,” wrote dozens of SPD members in a letter last month. an open letter. They believe that the policy legitimizes far-right views and encourages racism, and that the SPD is losing sight of its own social democratic values.

According to some members of the party, Scholz then threatened to get rid of a man vote against the measures, also voted against him as chancellor. This may also have affected the future of the government. He didn’t get that far.