Refugees: Greens argue about plans for stricter EU asylum rules

The Greens continue to argue heatedly about planned stricter asylum rules in the European Union. The Green European politician Rasmus Andresen told the German Press Agency that a small Green party conference on Saturday must show a clear edge against the compromise negotiated by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD).

The Greens interior politician Julian Pahlke spoke of an “inhumane decision” by the EU interior ministers. In Luxembourg, Faeser agreed “that small children also have to be in detention camps.”

The head of the Greens in the Bundestag, Katharina Dröge, admitted that there was disagreement. It’s a question of honesty not to “convert” the different perspectives. The common attitude is now to have respect for differing opinions.

According to the EU decision, tougher treatment of migrants with no prospects of staying is envisaged. In the future, people from countries that are considered safe should come to strictly controlled facilities under conditions similar to detention after crossing the border – including families with small children. There it should then be checked within twelve weeks whether the applicants have a chance of asylum. If not, they should be sent back immediately.

Can a party congress calm things down?

Dröge said that many governments at the European level were “very, very restrictive in their asylum policy” – which everyone knew. “That’s why each of us was willing to make tough compromises.” In the end, it is about weighing up whether there is a minimal step forward or not. The debate on this is now being conducted by the small party conference, the state council, in Bad Vilbel, Hesse.

There is also no consensus among the party and faction leaders themselves, as has become clear in the past few days. The SPD board had backed Faeser, however, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz even called the compromise “historic”.

In Luxembourg, Faeser campaigned for families with underage children to be exempted from the so-called border procedures. In order to make the breakthrough possible, she ultimately had to accept that this could be possible.

What will the trilogue bring?

She then said that she was counting on the European Parliament to push through changes. In the so-called trilogue, representatives of EU states, the European Parliament and the EU Commission negotiate legislation with one another. Observers do not expect the process to get going until September.

Andresen said: “If we don’t succeed in excluding families with children from the planned detention camps, there must be no German approval of the asylum package.” The EU interior ministers are currently “using symbols of isolation that lay the ax on human rights and do not do justice to the challenges on the ground”.

A newly drafted leading motion by the Greens federal executive for the state council in Bad Vilbel states that the agreement in the Council of Interior Ministers includes improvements that would not have come about without German action. However, central points had not been reached and the result was far removed from the positions of the Greens. “At the same time, we see the European policy dilemma. Overall, we assess the result differently.”

In addition to the tightened asylum procedures, the EU plans also provide for more solidarity with the heavily burdened member states at the EU’s external borders. In the future, the acceptance of refugees should no longer be voluntary, but mandatory. Countries that do not want to take in refugees would be forced to pay compensation.

The reform was not supported at the Luxembourg meeting by Poland, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia and Bulgaria. After the agreement, the Czech Republic made it clear that it would not participate in the solidarity mechanism. Poland and Hungary had already made similar statements in the past.