Söder and Herrmann Tackle Asylum Crisis in Bavaria
In a push to tackle the escalating asylum crisis, Bavaria's leaders, Markus Söder and Joachim Herrmann (both from the Christian Social Union or CSU), are embarking on a visit to the State Office for Asylum and Returns in Manching near Ingolstadt. The primary focus of their discussion will revolve around implementing additional measures to boost the number of returns for foreigners who are mandated to leave the country. Particularly, they aim to put pressure on the federal government to contribute to these initiatives.
As per the Ministry of the Interior, Bavaria has managed to escalate the number of returns significantly following the lifting of coronavirus-related restrictions. Nevertheless, further measures are deemed necessary.
After a cabinet meeting held last week, the state chancellery declared a tally of 1711 returns and approximately 8000 voluntary departures from rejected asylum seekers by September. Given the substantial surge in migrants, these figures are insufficient for the state government.
Recent statistics released by the Federal Ministry of the Interior reveals that approximately 287,000 asylum applications were made in Germany within the first ten months of this year. This figure includes around 267,000 initial applications, marking a staggering 67.5% rise compared to the numbers from the same period in the previous year.
The mounting strain on Bavaria's asylum seekers' accommodation facilities is prompting an urgent call to action in asylum and migration policy. Local authorities have voiced complaints regarding accommodation challenges for quite some time. However, recent indications suggest a slight decrease in numbers, although their validity remains to be seen.
Söder and Herrmann's visit to the State Office for Asylum and Returns underscores the necessity of implementing further measures to boost the number of returns for foreigners needed to depart due to the high number of refugees seeking asylum and the overflowing accommodation facilities in Bavaria. The unchecked influx of asylum seekers has contributed to the record-breaking number of asylum applications in Germany — over 287,000 this year, a significant increase from the previous year.
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Friedrich Merz, the CSU's leader, has proposed a five-point migration plan to address the asylum crisis by substantially tightening Germany's migration and asylum laws, strengthening internal security in part by instituting border controls at all national boundaries, and outsourcing asylum applications to third countries. However, these proposals have faced criticism and concerns regarding their legality and impact on asylum seekers.
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