Refugees: Dobrindt brings migration laws to the cabinet

Three weeks after the start of the black and red government, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) presented the cabinet on Wednesday the first draft laws to limit migration to Germany and for naturalization. This is intended to expose the family reunification for refugees without asylum status and the accelerated naturalization will be abolished after three years in Germany. Union and SPD had agreed on both changes in their coalition negotiations.

The suspension of family reunification affects people who do not get asylum and no refugee protection in Germany, but can still stay here because they threaten political persecution, torture or the death penalty in their home countries. They should no longer be allowed to bring family members to Germany for two years. Hardfalls are excluded.

Dobrindt for family reunification: “So now is over”

“So far, 1,000 people have been followed up to Germany per month. This is now the end,” said Dobrindt the “Bild”. “We have to significantly reduce the pull factors (sog factors) to Germany. We also show that migration policy in Germany has changed.”

The family reunification for refugees without asylum status had already been suspended by the then black and red coalition from March 2016 to July 2018. At the time, this was justified with the intention of avoiding an overload in recording and integration. Since August 2018, 1,000 people have been allowed to enter this protection status as relatives of people.

Greens politician calls plans “immoral”

The coalition agreement of SPD, Greens and FDP from 2021 actually stated that family reunification should also be possible for people from this group. However, this project was not implemented. More than 30 non -governmental organizations have appealed to the federal government to drop their plans to restrict the family reunification for refugees and to expand it instead.

Sharp criticism also came from the Greens. “The new federal government is based on symbol policy at the expense of the weakest and does not shy away from clear broken law,” said the Green Interior politician Schahina Gambir of dpa. The suspension of the family reunification is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Children. “This policy is immoral, it drives a wedge into social cohesion.”

Union speaks of “turbo naturalizations”

Another draft law, which is to be decided on Wednesday, provides for the abolition of the accelerated naturalization introduced by the traffic light government after three years for particularly well-integrated immigrants. The Union speaks of “turbo naturalizations” that should no longer be possible in the future.

The aim is to “strengthen the importance of the residence, which is legally returned in Germany as a central and significant naturalization requirement,” says the draft lecturer, which is presented to the German Press Agency and first reported the “ZEIT”. It has already been sent to the countries that have time to comment by Monday. Dobrindt’s goal is to bring the law through the Bundestag and the Federal Council even before the summer break began on July 11th.

Lock reform reversed in one point

This reverses a point from the reform of nationality law adopted by the SPD, the Greens and FDP. However, according to the coalition agreement, the CDU, CSU and the SPD want to adhere to the reduction of the waiting period for normal naturalizations from eight to five years and the permission for the double pass, which had also been decided by the traffic light.

Shortly after the change of government, Dobrindt had implemented the first agreements from the coalition agreement with tightened border controls and rejections of asylum seekers at the borders. For the Union, the measures to restrict the move to Germany are among the central project of the new government.