Germany's Merz defends migration plans after legal setback on asylum

Yahoo

2 days ago

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday defended his government's effort to turn away asylum seekers at the country's borders, one day after a court blocked the move.
The urgent decision by the Berlin Administrative Court was a setback for Merz, who has pledged to crack down on irregular migration.
Merz said in Berlin that the ruling may narrow his administration's room for manoeuvre.
"But the room for manoeuvre is still there," he argued. "We know that we can still carry out [border] rejections."
The chancellor, who took office last month, said the government will "of course do this within the framework of existing European law."
"But we will do so in order to protect public safety and order in our country and to prevent cities and municipalities from being overburdened," he added.
Until the situation at the European Union's external borders has improved significantly with the help of new common European rules, Germany "will have to maintain controls on the internal borders," Merz underlined.
Shortly after taking office last month, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt ordered police to step up border checks and turn back irregular migrants, even if they apply for asylum.
In the first case to emerge over the controversial move, the court ruled in favour of three Somalis who were turned back to Poland on May 9, stating that they should have been processed under the European Union's Dublin Regulation for asylum cases.
The court found that the government's evidence to proclaim a "national emergency" to justify the measure lacked sufficient evidence.
Migration expert Daniel Thym said the government could yet win the main proceedings - to be held in several months' time, at the earliest - if it presents better evidence.
Coalition partners examine ruling
The new government's proposed clampdown on migration has caused concern among some sections of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the junior partner in Merz's coalition.
Tim Klüssendorf, the SPD's likely next general secretary, said on Tuesday that the party remains committed to its coalition agreement with Merz's conservative bloc, but it insists on complying with the law.
After Monday's ruling, the coalition partners must now "take a close look at the judgement and also enter into discussions on how the agreement from the coalition agreement can now be implemented in a legally secure manner," Klüssendorf told broadcaster RTL/ntv.
The court's decision was greeted by left-wing opposition parties, who have consistently argued that the government's move is illegal.
Britta Hasselmann from the Greens told broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday that Merz and Dobrindt had "failed across the board" in their unilateral action, jeopardizing European cooperation and breaking the law.
In contrast, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) slammed the ruling.
"Anyone who negates the security interests of German citizens in this way must ask themselves whether they are actually still speaking the law in the name of the German people," the party's spokesman on domestic policy, Martin Hess, said in Berlin.