Germany is launching a crackdown on illegal immigration, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced, following the conclusion of talks between Scholz’s centre-left coalition, conservative opposition, and the country’s 16 State governments.
The country’s new asylum package, reached after 17 hours of discussions on Monday and Tuesday, and after months of political impasse on the issue of immigration, will see social benefits for refugees reduced, along with new targets to hasten deportations.
Speaking on Tuesday, Angela Merkel’s successor Scholz described the deal as “a very historic moment” – as he admitted that illegal immigration into the country presented an “undeniably great challenge.”
The government measures will attempt to make Germany a less attractive country for immigration in the first place – which is an approach which directly contrasts Scholz’s predecessor Merkel’s ‘open door’ immigration policy.
The former German chancellor, who famously pledged, ‘We’ll manage it’ when asked about the number of people coming to the country, won the UNHCR’s Nansen Award for taking in more than 1.2 million refugees during Germany’s 2015-2016 migrant crisis.
Migration has become a major issue in the national debate in recent years, with government ministers ordering “temporary” checks last month on Germany’s land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland – with illegal entries into Germany at the highest they’ve been for seven years, as Germany remains a top destination for asylum seekers.
Germany’s decision to adopt a tougher migration policy comes on the heels of Rome’s announcement on Monday that it would soon open migrant centres in Albania to host sea migrants attempting to reach Italy.
Scholz’s cabinet passed a measure to make it easier for German authorities to deport those who are members of criminal associations, and to search the homes of migrants in order to establish their identity. His cabinet also agreed on changes to existing rules to permit asylum seekers to enter the workforce at a faster rate, and to serve longer prison sentences for those guilty of human trafficking.
The meeting, held in Berlin, saw Scholz’s government commit to pay the states and municipalities 7,500 euros per refugee from 2024 onwards. Additionally, it will make an advance payment of 1.75 billion euro in the first half of the year.
Moreover, German authorities look set to save around one billion euros by scaling back benefits for asylum seekers, under measures which will double the amount of time it takes to be able to qualify for full social benefits. Those seeking asylum will now have to wait three years to be entitled to full State benefits in the country, a significant increase from 18 months currently.
In addition, benefits will be paid on state-issued cards, which will give the German government more control over how the money is used, amid concerns that payments are being taken home or in some cases, used to pay traffickers.
The meeting on Monday sought to address concerns from local authorities that public infrastructure and resources were overstretched.
“Our shared goal is to push back irregular migration,” Scholz said. His comments came as a total of 230,000 people sought asylum in Germany in the first nine months of 2023, with the country also taking in one million refugees from Ukraine.
Hesse prime minister Boris Rhein, of the opposition Christian Democratic Union welcomed the new measures as a “step in the right direction” – while adding that it was “also clear that further steps must follow.”
His comments signal the desire for tougher measures on immigration among some German parties, while polls have put the right-wing, anti immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party ahead of Germany’s three governing parties — something which commentators say have startled Berlin into taking action.
One in five people in Germany now say they support the ADF – as Germany’s mainstream elected leaders have been accused of avoiding having the debate on immigration.
Markus Wiesenberg, a member of Germany’s Christian Democrat party, recently said that the government are perceived to be failing, as irregular immigration rises.
“It seems we didn’t learn the lesson of 2015,” he recently told the BBC, regarding immigration into the country, adding: “We are as unprepared as then.”