Germany Seals Itself Off

This could likely be temporary and for public consumption to stem outrage, or the national quota could’ve been filled for the year as Germany needs to bolster its declining population and even welcomes them with open arms like war heroes.

 

BERLIN (Own report) – Berlin has closed its southern borders to refugees, preventing other victims of civil wars from entering, and has begun deportations of rejected asylum applicants back to Southeast Europe. Inconsistencies among government officials over how to approach the refugee problem have ultimately led to an unexpected influx of tens of thousands of refugees. Thousands in the German population have made a unique display of helpfulness toward refugees, helpfulness, the government will now render futile. At today’s EU Interior and Justice Ministers Meeting, measures will be promoted to once again seal the EU borders and establish camps to hold refugees immediately upon their arrivals in Greece, Italy, and possibly Hungary. One such camp has been opened in Germany to separate Southeast European refugees for their rapid deportation. Last week, one hundred eleven refugees were deported by plane to Kosovo. Half of the 250,000 refugees, who entered Germany this year, between January and August, are threatened with immediate deportation. At the same time, demands are being raised to drastically reduce state support for refugees and to abolish the fundamental individual right of asylum.

Close the Borders

Berlin has temporarily suspended the Schengen Agreement and established border controls in southern Germany. Entry will only be granted with valid travel documents. Refugees can therefore no longer come into Germany. The administration ordered the Deutsche Bahn AG to halt train traffic from Austria to Germany. The German railway company transmitted the request to Austria’s national railway company OeBB, which followed suit. “The aim of these measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany,” declared German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière.[1] Following Berlin’s suspension of the Schengen Agreement, the Czech Republic reinforced its border controls, and Hungary is planning to permanently close its “border fence” to Serbia by tomorrow. Anyone entering illegally, or damaging border installations, risks a sentence of up to three, or up to five years in prison, respectively. According to the German Federal Police, the German borders will probably remain closed over a protracted period.

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“Not Responsible”

With the closure of its borders, Berlin is explicitly demonstrating that it seeks to bring the “Dublin System” back into effect, which stipulates that all refugees, seeking asylum, must make their applications in the first EU country they reach. For all those arriving by land or by sea, this will mean applying mainly in Greece, Italy or Hungary. Over the past few days, the German government has left no doubts that it abides by the “Dublin System.” Yesterday, German Minister of the Interior, Thomas de Maizière, explicitly reaffirmed that, “according to current European law, Germany is not responsible for the largest portion of those seeking protection.” The “Dublin System” remains in force, unaltered, “and I call on all European member states to abide by its rules.”[4] To put this through, the establishment of so-called reception centers (“Hotspot Approach”) must be promoted at today’s EU Interior and Justice Minister meeting. This refers to reception camps directly at the EU’s external borders – in Greece, Italy, possibly in Hungary and in Turkey – in which arriving refugees can be immediately assembled and following a rapid inspection of their asylum applications, can either be distributed throughout the EU or immediately deported. (german-foreign-policy.com reported.[5])

European Minimum Standards

To ward off unregulated flight into the EU, alongside the planned “registration centers,” Germany quietly acquiesces to even brutal measures, such as Hungary’s border closures. Contrary to statements by top German politicians, who, last week, engaging in an effective PR effort, were critical of Hungary’s erection of a “border fence,” last Friday, Manfred Weber (of Bavaria’s CSU Party), who chairs the European People’s Party (EPP) caucus in the European Parliament, reflected in Budapest, the German government’s true standpoint. The outer borders of the EU must be secured, declared Weber. “The fence is there, for the time being, to channel the flow, to be able to supervise, who crosses the border. I fully support this idea.” That “borders must be secured and guarded” is also an “EPP standpoint.” Highly fortified “border fences” have been in existence for years elsewhere along the EU’s outer borders – along the borders separating Greece and Bulgaria from Turkey. (german-foreign-policy.com reported.[6]) Following his visit to Budapest, Weber went to the Hungarian “reception center” in Bicske, which had been sharply criticized recently by human rights activists. “I have the impression that Hungary’s facilities meet European minimum standards,” declared the head of the EPP caucus.[7]

Mass Deportations

Soon other measures are expected to be applied. For example, all countries of Southeast Europe will be proclaimed “safe third countries,” to where refugees can be immediately deported back to. Last week, Green Party politicians tentatively prepared their approval of these measures. To be able to deport more quickly, the German state of Bavaria has become the first to open a refugee camp, where exclusively Southeast European refugees will be held, of whom 99 percent will be refused asylum. For the time being, three such camps – with a capacity for around 1,500 – have been planned in the region of Ingolstadt. Deportation to Southeast Europe has long since begun. Last Friday, 111 refugees from Kosovo were taken from the camp at 6 AM, and deported with a chartered plane to Priština. Nearly half of the refugees, who came to Germany this year, are awaiting the same treatment. According to statistics of the German Ministry of the Interior, of the 256.938 people who have applied in Germany for refugee status between January and August, 38,245 are from Albania, 33,824 from Kosovo, 20,864 from other parts of Serbia, 10,244 from Macedonia and 5,420 from Bosnia Herzegovina, 108,597. They are all facing deportation.

Full article: Germany Seals Itself Off (German Foreign Policy)