Germany probing three cases of citizens denied entry to US

Euronews

18-03-2025

Poland and the Baltic states said on Tuesday that they want to withdraw from an international treaty banning anti-personnel mines, citing Russia's growing military threat.
In a joint statement, the defence ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland said they "unanimously recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention".
The 1997 treaty — which prohibits the use, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines — has been ratified or acceded to by more than 160 countries.
Russia has not joined the agreement, and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine has turned the war-torn country into the most mine-laden nation in the world, according to reports.
"Military threats to NATO member states bordering Russia and Belarus have significantly increased," the statement said.
"We believe that in the current security environment it is paramount to provide our defence forces flexibility and freedom of choice to potentially use new weapons systems and solutions to bolster the defence of the alliance's vulnerable eastern flank," it added.
Despite the intention to leave the treaty, the statement said the countries would remain committed to humanitarian law, including protecting civilians during armed conflict.
The four countries have all increased or vowed to boost their defence spending following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Estonia, Lithuania and Poland have pledged to spend 5% of their GDP on defence, a goal that was put forward by US President Donald Trump. The current spending target for NATO members is 2%.
In a separate statement on Tuesday, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said the country's military saw no need to adopt previously banned landmines.
"Decisions regarding the Ottawa Convention should be made in solidarity and coordination within the region," Pevkur said. "At the same time, we currently have no plans to develop, stockpile, or use previously banned anti-personnel landmines."
Meanwhile, Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said the recommended withdrawal sent a "clear message" about protecting the region's borders.
"The states having a border with Russia are ready to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of their citizens," she said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament earlier this month that he supported the country's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention and possibly from the 2008 Dublin Convention, which bans the use of cluster munitions.
Finland, which is not a signatory of the joint statement, said in December that it was also considering leaving the treaty due to Russia's use of anti-personnel mines in Ukraine.
The US is the only NATO member state not party to the treaty. Other major nations that have not joined the pact include China, India, Pakistan and South Korea.
According to NATO, nearly 70 countries and territories are still affected by the presence of some 110 million land mines, which can remain dormant, concealed beneath the earth, for many years before being triggered.
At least 5,757 people — mostly civilians — were killed or wounded by landmines and unexploded ordnance in 2023, found an annual tally by the NGO Landmine Monitor.
Germany is probing the case of three of its citizens being denied entry and placed in detention as they tried to enter the US, the country's foreign ministry said on Monday.
Tourists from several countries, including Germans, have reportedly been caught up in US President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration.
"We have recently become aware of three cases in which German citizens were unable to enter the USA and were detained for deportation when they entered the country," government spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said.
Two of the three cases had been resolved, Fischer confirmed, but Berlin is "monitoring the situation" and liaising with other EU countries to assess if these were isolated cases or representative of "a change in American immigration policy".
'Once we have a clear picture, we will then, if necessary, adjust our travel and security advice,' Fischer added.
German and US media reported that two German tourists and one German green card holder had been arrested on re-entry to the US.
Among them is Fabian Schmidt, 34, a legal permanent US resident. According to US outlet WGBH, he was detained at an airport in Boston before being transferred to a detention facility in Rhode Island.
Schmidt's mother, Astrid Senior, told the broadcaster that her son was "violently interrogated" at the airport before being stripped naked and forced into a cold shower by two officials.
The German foreign ministry said it was aware of the case and that its consulate in Boston was providing support.
"It is clear that we expect from our partners, as well as from all other countries in the world, that prison conditions comply with international human rights standards and that detainees are treated accordingly," Fischer said.
The two other nationals affected were Jessica Brösche, a 29-year-old tattoo artist from Berlin, and Lucas Sielaff, 25, from Saxony-Anhalt. Both have been sent back to Germany after their cases were resolved.
Brösche had attempted to enter the US from Tijuana in Mexico while travelling with her friend, a US citizen.
According to the online fundraiser set up to fund her return, authorities originally told her she would be detained for several days, but that what ensued instead was an "alarming sequence of events" with Brösche transferred and kept at the Otay Mesa Detention centre for more than six weeks.
Brösche's friends alleged she was put in solitary confinement for nine days during her ordeal.
According to ABC 10News, San Diego CoreCivic, the company that owns the detention centre where Brösche was held, denied her claims that she had been placed in solitary confinement.
Sielaff returned to Germany in early March after two weeks in detention his girlfriend, Lennon Tyler, told Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger. He had entered the US on a tourist visa and visited Mexico for a short trip.
Tyler said Sielaff had incorrectly answered an immigration officer that he lived in Las Vegas due to his lack of English skills. His tourist visa was subsequently revoked at a border point in San Ysidro.
'Don't come here,' Tyler warned in her interview. 'Especially not if you're on a tourist visa, and especially not over the Mexican border.'
It is unclear why Brösche and Sielaff, who reportedly had valid tourist visas, were detained.
Germans who have a valid tourist visa to the US are generally allowed to travel visa-free for up to 90 days, according to the US embassy website in Germany.
Green card holders are generally allowed to travel abroad and re-enter the US after stays lasting less than six consecutive months, according to the US government.
For several months now, Algiers has been systematically turning back Algerian nationals who have committed criminal acts or become radicalised in the European Union. And the standoff with Paris is not about to end.
In a "moment of truth" the French government had been waiting for, Algeria has now decided not to follow up on a list of around 60 Algerian nationals considered to be threats to public order in France, and whose expulsion back to Algeria had been requested "as a priority" by the French Interior Ministry.
A press release issued by the Algerian diplomatic service on Monday evening insisted that "Algeria reaffirms its categorical rejection of threats and attempts at intimidation, as well as injunctions, ultimatums and any kind of threatening language".
The message accused Paris of "calling into question the traditional channel for handling expulsion cases" and applying a "selective approach (...) to bilateral and international agreements".
The statement also insisted that "Algeria is motivated only by the desire to fulfil its duty of consular protection towards its nationals", and invited the French chargé d'affaires to "follow the usual channel, in this case that established between the French Prefectures and the Algerian Consulates" and to "proceed on a case-by-case basis".
French Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau was quick to respond.
"I regret that Algeria refuses to apply international law," he declared on his X account. "As decided by the interministerial committee chaired by the Prime Minister, a graduated response will be implemented."
Rima Hassan, an MEP for the radical left-wing party La France Insoumise who holds the French government responsible for the deterioration in Franco-Algerian relations, immediately called for Retailleau's resignation.
On the other side of the political spectrum, the far right has accused France's top cop of impotence and called on the authorities to get tougher on their North African counterparts.
"The French people would not understand if the government did not react firmly to the many provocations by the Algerian regime, which is violating its treaty obligations", declared Marine Le Pen, parliamentary leader of the National Rally (RN) party, on X.
Jordan Bardella, the young president of the party, said Retailleau has "his back to the wall", and urged him to take action.
The retaliatory measures to which Retailleau alluded could range from individual sanctions to calling into question all France's agreements with Algeria.
The French government has already announced it is "suspending" the 2007 agreement that allows holders of Algerian diplomatic passports to make short stays in France without a visa.
And according to an internal Interior Ministry memo leaked to the press, the government might even consider "slowing down compensation" for victims of French nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara between 1960 and 1966.
While the 1968 migration agreements that facilitate the settlement and family reunification of Algerians are already in the government's sights, they currently have very little effect on the movement and residence of Algerians in France.
This arrangement has been progressively unravelled over the decades, particularly given the knock-on effects of the Algerian civil war in the 1990s and the implementation of the Schengen area.
What's more, the 1968 agreements penalised Algerian students who, unlike other students, were not entitled to a multi-annual residence permit and had to renew their visa every year.
On the other hand, the 1980 agreement, which was supplemented by a 2016 protocol, has proven less contentious. It grants social benefits to certain Algerians living in France, including pensions, family allowances and healthcare.
Relations between Paris and Algiers are complicated because of the country's colonial past, but they have deteriorated particularly since last July, when Emmanuel Macron angered Algeria by recognising an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region, under Moroccan sovereignty.
Although diplomatic ties have not been severed, French officials claim that Algiers is adopting a policy aimed at erasing France's economic presence in the country, with trade falling by 30% since the summer, according to Reuters.
Another bone of contention is the arrest of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, 75, who has been in prison in Algeria since mid-November last year.
The intellectual and friend of Retailleau is being prosecuted for statements considered to undermine Algeria's "territorial integrity, stability and the normal functioning of its institutions".
According to French officials, some 10% of France's 68 million inhabitants have links with Algeria.