24 members of the Bundestag from the SPD and the Greens reject EU asylum reform

Zoom Image

Refugee camp on the Greek island of Samos 2021

Photo: Socrates Baltagiannis / dpa

The planned asylum reform in the European Union leads to resistance in the traffic light. In a paper, 24 members of the Bundestag from the SPD and the Greens, as well as several members of the state parliament from both parties, express criticism of the project supported by the federal government. "We share the concern of many people that the proposals for a new Common European Asylum System could weaken the right to asylum," the letter reads.

One of the points of criticism is the fast-track procedures at the EU's external borders, which are to apply to people who come from countries with a low asylum recognition rate. "We are critical of the nationwide introduction of border procedures, as they promote detention-like conditions," the paper says.

MEPs also fear that the reform will expand the concept of "safe third countries" – which could lead to a blanket rejection of asylum seekers who want to flee to the EU via such states: "It is no longer the reason for fleeing, but only the travel route that determines the outcome of the procedure."

Moreover, a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) can only function "with a good and binding distribution". A high number of refugees could "bring individual states to the reception limits – but not an entire continent," the letter says. For this reason, "as many states as possible must participate in a binding European distribution system". However, this is rejected in particular by countries such as Hungary and Poland.

Among the signatories of the letter are members of the Bundestag Hakan Demir, Carmen Wegge, Ye-One Rhie and Sebastian Roloff of the SPD as well as Kassem Taher Saleh, Canan Bayram, Awet Tesfaiesus and Lisa Badum of the Greens.

The initiative for the paper comes from the cross-party organization "Brand New Bundestag", which, according to its own statements, is committed to a "progressive, future-oriented policy".

"Germany must prevent the softening of the right of asylum, which many EU states are striving for," said SPD member of parliament Hakan Demir. "The regular asylum procedure must remain the norm – with a fair and balanced European distribution."

"For me, many questions remain unanswered," said Kassem Taher Saleh, a member of the Bundestag for the Greens. "The bottom line is that there must be an actual improvement to the existing legal situation, otherwise the change is not acceptable to me."

"The planned tightening of asylum law at the European level is unacceptable," said Sebastian Roloff, head of the left-wing group DL21 in the SPD parliamentary group. The idea of "reception camps" at the EU's external borders was once promoted by Horst Seehofer (CSU) as Federal Minister of the Interior. A Social Democratic interior minister should not support Seehofer's plan for reception camps," says Roloff.

Decision on Thursday?

Previously, around 730 members of the Greens had already written against the reform. In it, the rank and file accuses its own leadership of abandoning the party's principles by agreeing in principle to the EU Commission's proposals for asylum reform.

On Thursday, EU interior ministers will meet in Luxembourg to discuss the planned asylum reform. Among other things, it is about the question of whether some of the procedures should already be carried out at the EU's external borders. The German government has agreed to this in principle, but wants to prevent minors and families with children from having to go through these fast-track procedures.

However, it is unclear whether an agreement will actually be reached at the meeting. It could work, but she could "not guarantee" this, said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on Monday. According to reports, the decision could also be postponed to a special meeting in two weeks.

CTE/WOW