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Major parties and minnows are all promising more and quicker deportations to solve the migration debate as the country is set to hold elections next Sunday.
As Germany gears up for general elections next Sunday, migration has crystallised as a top concern among voters.Two weeks ago, a debate in German parliament sparked nationwide protests after Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz pushed a non-binding motion toughening migration rules through parliament. For the first time in the country’s post-war history, he accepted votes from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, triggering widespread condemnation. Despite criticism of Merz’s proposals and his willingness to work with the far-right, Germany’s other political parties have also called for stricter migration laws. Incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green party have moved to the right on migration, promising increased and speedier deportations from Germany. Euronews sought to understand why both established and populist parties are capitalising on deportations as a solution to the migration debate and a method of attracting voters. A situation that ‘doesn’t work’?CDU lawmaker Christoph De Vries told Euronews that the current European-wide deportation model is dysfunctional and says change is urgently needed.Deportation is a legal process of expelling non-citizens who do not have a legal right to stay — typically individuals whose asylum applications have been unsuccessful, those who do not have valid residence permits, or foreign nationals who have been convicted of serious crimes. Germany’s deportation model follows national and EU-wide law, with the bloc’s 27 member states having flexibility in implementing deportation rules. In 2023, Germany deported around 16,430 people — a marked increase from previous years. In the first 11 months of 2024, a total of 18,384 individuals were deported from Germany. Despite this, politicians are pushing for more deportations. According to De Vries, deportations are not always carried out as “up to 60%” of arrivals deliberately destroy their passports when they enter Germany, making it harder for authorities to establish their identities. Other obstacles include a lack of cooperation by countries where someone is due to be returned. “Countries of origin often refuse to take back their nationals, even though they are legally obliged to do so under international law. And of course, we frequently experience situations where individuals subject to deportation evade it simply by going into hiding or not being present when the police come,” De Vries said. “If people get the impression that foreigners who are obliged to leave stay regardless of the outcome of their asylum procedures, it undermines trust in the rule of law. That is why we need to improve in this area,” he explained.Migration law expert Daniel Thym blames “sluggish” authorities for flaws in Germany’s deportation system. According to him, agencies do not cooperate efficiently, there are too many cases, and procedures are needlessly complex. “It creates an overall situation that just doesn’t work,” Thym said. Asylum seekers vs skilled workersAccording to De Vries, there is a difference between asylum seekers and skilled workers — the latter is what Germany needs. De Vries says asylum seekers come in large numbers and tend to burden social systems instead of entering the labour market, and statistics show that asylum migrants often rely more on Germany’s social security system. “(They) do not speak German, are initially unemployed, housed by the state, and also take advantage of Germany’s very generous social benefits. These are two very different forms of migration,” Thym said. Skilled workers who are needed “do not come because Germany is not an attractive destination for them. It is too bureaucratic, and our administrative processes are overly complex,” De Vries added. The government has not done enough to attract skilled workers, De Vries believes. On top of this, he argues that the political debate tends to conflate the two categories. “We urgently need to separate these two things (asylum seekers and skilled workers). We must not conflate them. We need to strictly limit and reduce asylum migration, while at the same time attracting more skilled workers,” said De Vries. Lack of detention centresAccording to figures from the German Interior Ministry, some 60% of deportations fail. Meanwhile, people who have not been deported must be housed somewhere, adding further factors to the already complex issue.Both De Vries and the head of Germany’s largest police union, Andreas Roßkopf, argue there are not enough detention places to hold migrants earmarked for deportation.De Vries says there are “around 225,000 people in Germany who are required to leave the country, about 45,000 of whom are subject to enforced deportation.” However, in reality, there are only a few hundred deportation detention places. Another factor, De Vries said, is that there is a lack of cooperation between federal states — who are responsible for carrying out deportations — and the federal government. As authorities are unable to detain the people they want to deport, Roßkopf explained, many seek ways to evade them or go into hiding. He argues that authorities need to increase spaces significantly to hold onto repeat offenders and criminals and carry out deportations effectively. “Additionally, we urgently need agreements with countries of origin and third countries to ensure (these categories of deportees) can be returned. That means these countries must also agree to take them back,” said Roßkopf.The deportation issue has been flung into the spotlight in Germany after a string of fatal attacks in the cities of Solingen and Aschaffenburg. In both cases, the suspect was a migrant scheduled to be deported. The attack in Solingen, which left three people dead and injured eight, was allegedly carried out by a Syrian national who was scheduled to be deported to Bulgaria. On the day of his deportation, authorities could not locate him. Although there is enough personnel to carry out the deportations, Roßkopf said, there must be better coordination between authorities.Merz’s measures to toughen migration rules may have caused a backlash, but according to Roßkopf, many elements in it were not new. However, one of Merz’s proposals — namely turning away individuals without valid entry documents at Germany’s borders — does contradict European-wide asylum law. “We need legal certainty,” said Roßkopf. “If that is given and our colleagues can work within a clear legal framework, then it would certainly be a measure to further curb migration.”Elements of Merz’s migration proposals include immediate detention for those earmarked to be deported, an increase in detention spaces, and daily deportations. Merz proposed that “dangerous individuals” who are required to leave the country should remain in “indefinite exit arrest” until they voluntarily return to their home country or are deported. Additionally, Merz argued that police powers in German states should be bolstered to enforce deportations.A European problem?The discussion on migration and deportations is not limited to Germany. “I think we need to be very open and honest in this discussion: deportations do not work satisfactorily in any EU member state,” De Vries said. “And this leads us in the CDU to conclude that we must stop illegal immigration into Germany, but above all into Europe as a whole, because we see how difficult deportations are. Once people have entered, the legal and practical hurdles for deportation are so great that we will never be able to manage it satisfactorily, as would be necessary and desirable,” he explained. The CDU hopes that if it is successful in halting migration at Germany’s borders, its plans will create a “ripple effect” across the European Union’s borders so that people “will stop making the journey once they know they have no chance of entering Germany, France, or Spain.”But De Vries believes European countries should work together to resolve the asylum issue. Unless mainstream parties resolve flaws in asylum policy, right-wing populist parties will promote themselves as an answer to the problem.”We need a clear distribution system for all, and we must better protect Europe’s external borders. This requires significantly strengthening Frontex, which must work with national governments to ensure better border protection — otherwise, free movement within Europe is at risk,” Roßkopf added.Despite this, critics argue that Merz’s proposals contradict EU-wide law and risk angering other member states not on board with changing common asylum policy. Thym says that to bypass difficulties, Merz wants to create an “emergency clause in the European treaties. Just as Italy is no longer adhering to them.””However, whether this is legally compliant cannot be definitively predicted. There are some arguments in favour of it and many against it,” he concluded.
