Union: Focus on rejections at borders

Union: Focus on rejections at borders Article by dpa • 4 hours • 3 minutes reading time When it comes to limiting irregular migration, the Union is relying on rejections at the border. The Union sees the most important issue in the planned talks on migration as better protection of the external borders. "We will never solve the ongoing migration crisis with deportations. We must finally start at the beginning of the process and that means rejections at the external border. We will push for this in the asylum talks," said the parliamentary manager of the Union faction in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei (CDU), to "Bild". At the same time, he doubted in the "Rheinische Post" the effect of the cuts in benefits for so-called Dublin refugees targeted by the red-green-yellow federal government. After the suspected Islamist knife attack in Solingen that left three people dead, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced talks with the states and the Union, the largest opposition force, about the possible consequences. The first meeting is scheduled for next week. The federal government also presented a package of measures that, among other things, provides for benefit cuts for refugees for whom another EU country is responsible. On Friday, Germany deported Afghans to their country of origin for the first time since the Taliban took power three years ago. The deportation flight took off a few days after the attack, but has a much longer lead time, according to official sources. CDU politician Frei calls for better protection of Germany's external borders. Rhein: Package of measures is "tinkering with the symptoms" The chairman of the Conference of Minister Presidents, Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU), told the Bavarian media group about the package presented by the traffic light government: "None of this is wrong, but it is nothing more than tinkering with the symptoms." The traffic light coalition continues to avoid taking active action and the crucial question: "How do we specifically ensure that fewer people come into the country?" Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) criticized the editorial network Germany (RND) for the fact that the expansion of expulsion interests and the stricter exclusion of criminals from protection status are the only really substantial proposals in the migration package. "Unfortunately, the rest remains very vague or achieves almost nothing, as in the case of the proposal to no longer grant benefits to Dublin cases once the member state in which the asylum seeker entered the EU has given its consent." Frei: Cuts have little effect on Dublin refugees With regard to the planned cuts for asylum seekers who have already been registered in another EU state, Frei told the "Rheinische Post": "These cuts affect far fewer cases than one sometimes reads." Only cases "in which the transfer request has been approved and social security exists in the destination country are affected. This significantly reduces the scope of application." Frei means that the other EU countries concerned must agree to a return from Germany so that the refugees can no longer receive benefits in Germany beyond what is absolutely necessary in the meantime. However, this consent is by no means always given. "And what will happen in the future is obvious: our neighboring countries will refuse consent even more often than they already do, or will register even fewer cases," predicted Frei. The suspected perpetrator of the Solingen attack reportedly came to Germany as a refugee via Bulgaria. Bulgaria agreed to a return, but it apparently did not take place for other reasons. Greens: Union pulls the wool over people's eyes The Greens' parliamentary group vice-chair Konstantin von Notz accused the Union of making some proposals that are not actually feasible. "Anyone who suggests to people that we can currently deport people to Syria or Afghanistan on a large scale or simply suspend existing international law is pulling the wool over their eyes and is making extremely dishonest arguments," he told the "Rheinische Post". On Friday, Germany deported Afghans to their country of origin for the first time since the Taliban seized power three years ago. According to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, 28 of the offenders were involved. All of those affected are men, the German Press Agency learned. According to the countries involved, the deportees include sex offenders and violent criminals. Chancellor Scholz described the deportation flight as a sign to all offenders. "It is a clear sign: anyone who commits crimes cannot count on us not deporting them, but we will try to do so, as we can see in this case."