Before entering Germany: Tens of thousands of refugees have previously applied for asylum in other EU countries

Mercury Before entering Germany: Tens of thousands of refugees have previously applied for asylum in other EU countries Article by Erkan Pehlivan • 9 hours Parliamentary question Before entering Germany: Tens of thousands of refugees have previously applied for asylum in other EU countries Thousands of refugees are said to have already applied for asylum in another EU country. The AfD is calling for their rapid deportation – but that is proving difficult. Berlin – A significant proportion of the people seeking protection in Germany have already applied for asylum in another European Union country. This emerges from an answer from the federal government to a written question from AfD MP Leif-Erik Holm. It says that 44,744 people who applied for asylum in Germany in the first nine months of this year had previously done so in another EU member state. During the same period, around 251,000 people presented themselves to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). Almost 234,000 of the protection requests they submitted were initial applications. Italy does not accept deported people seeking protection According to the so-called Dublin Regulation, asylum seekers should be registered where they first entered the European Union. This country is usually also responsible for the asylum application. In practice, however, the system only works to a limited extent. For example, Italy is currently refusing to implement the Dublin rules, also citing the high number of newly arriving boat migrants. According to the federal government, there were only nine Dublin transfers to Italy in the first half of this year. Doctors' organization complains about violence against Greece There are also rulings by higher administrative courts against deportations to Greece - a country with an EU external border where many asylum seekers arrive. They had argued that there was a risk for recognized refugees to become homeless and end up in a situation of extreme material hardship. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, a total of almost 3,800 people were sent back to another EU member state under the Dublin rules between the beginning of January and the end of September. Over 40,000 people seeking protection are said to have already applied for asylum in other EU countries. There are also problems for those seeking protection in Greece. According to Doctors Without Borders, refugees are exposed to violence and humiliation. Uniformed officers on Lesbos and Samos would beat those seeking protection, handcuff them unnecessarily, rob them and force them back to the Mediterranean, the organization's report said. Those seeking protection also repeatedly experience violence on the land border with Türkiye. There the Greek security forces, the so-called pushbacks, apparently handed over the illegal returns to criminal groups. Here too, those affected experience violence and robbery and are then sent in boats across the Evros River to Turkey. For people of Turkish origin, on the other hand, this means long-term imprisonment and torture. GEAS is intended to provide relief Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) must “finally put more pressure on the Dublin repatriations,” demanded Holm. That would provide far more relief than the current discussion about a few additional deportations per year. The problems with the implementation of the Dublin system are one reason for the current negotiations on a reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). (erpe/dpa)