Refugees – Magdeburg – Zieschang warns of the failure of the EU’s asylum reform policies

Posted On: August 27, 2023

Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – In view of the increasing number of arrivals, Saxony-Anhalt Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang (CDU) has warned of the failure of European asylum reforms. “In August we received over 200 new arrivals in one week for the first time. The numbers are steadily increasing in the autumn months, everyone knows that,” the CDU politician told the German Press Office with a view to developments in Saxony-Anhalt. “The decisive factor is that asylum reform is taking place at the European level. The public will not participate in such access events anymore. The numbers should drop by 2024.”

In the European Union there are plans to limit illegal migration. For example, applications for asylum for migrants from countries of origin with recognition rates of less than 20 percent will be examined within twelve weeks at the external borders of the EU. During this time, those seeking protection should be required to live in strictly controlled reception facilities. Those who do not have the opportunity to obtain asylum must be repatriated immediately. In addition, it was recently discussed that countries that do not wish to accept refugees will have to make future compensation payments. But the negotiations are not over.

“Should the asylum reform fail to materialize, this would be fatal for Europe, as there would be a risk of returning to nation-state status. Then there will be a reaction from each member country, and border controls can be resumed in Europe,” Zieschang said. The interior minister assumed that each country would act alone if reforms failed – also to reduce the influence of populist parties in next year’s European elections.

In the first half of this year, there were 162,271 people who applied for asylum in Germany – equivalent to about 64 percent of the total in 2022. Saxony-Anhalt also received more people seeking protection in the first half of 2023, bringing a total of 3153 person. In the first half of 2022 it is clear that there has been a decrease of 1947 people. Most people this year are from Syria, India, Turkey, Afghanistan, Georgia, Cameroon, Russia, Iran, Iraq and Mali.

In total, Saxony-Anhalt received 5,931 asylum seekers last year. In addition, some 29,500 war refugees from Ukraine have been registered. Zieschang estimates there will be more than 6,000 asylum seekers this year. “We created a reserve reserve for accommodation,” said Zieschang.