German parliament passes tighter asylum laws

German lawmakers have passed a series of laws concerning the deportation, monitoring and access to personal data of asylum seekers. The new legislation has been met with sharp criticism.

German authorities will be allowed to deport rejected asylum seekers more quickly and regularly under a series of new asylum laws passed on Thursday.

The Bundestag said the new laws would guarantee "the improved enforcement of deportation rulings." Rejected asylum seekers deemed to be a security threat will be deported faster or monitored with an electronic ankle bracelet.

Deportation orders against rejected asylum seekers can now be imposed even without assurance that the person in question would be repatriated within three months. A migrant could therefore be issued a deportation order even if the country origin fails to provide the necessary documentation or passport papers. This law was among the key new regulations for the German government, after the Berlin Christmas market attacker, Anis Amri, saw his deportation order waived when the Tunisian government couldn't provide the necessary papers.

Authorities, meanwhile, will also be allowed to detain individuals suspected to be a threat to security for a maximum of 10 days, rather than the previous limit of four days.

Another new piece of legislation allows Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) to access asylum seekers' personal electronic devices in order to verify the identities of those without official identification papers.

Any migrant found to have given a false identity upon entering Germany will see their freedom of movement strictly limited. The same penalty would also apply to migrants without the right to remain in Germany, but who nevertheless refuse to leave on their own volition.

German authorities would also instruct asylum seekers deemed to have few prospects in the country to remain in reception centers until their asylum procedures have been completed.

Germany's federal and 16 state governments had already agreed to the new asylum laws back in February. However, on Wednesday the ruling coalition government, made up of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), introduced a number of stricter laws to the draft bill. - Read More, DW

German parliament passes tighter asylum laws | News | DW | 19.05.2017

Germany's CDU party members laud return of rejected asylum seekers ...