German churches have directed sharp criticism at the Christian Democratic Party over the refugees. The criticism came from refugee representatives in churches, especially the two main churches in Germany, after the party announcing its desire to include in its basic program the third-state solution policy. This means deporting asylum seekers to a third country in Africa, a policy that Great Britain has already begun implementing with Rwanda.
Refugee representatives in both Protestant and Catholic churches have criticized the policy by the party towards refugees. They have described it as the party separating from its humanitarian and Christian heritage in protecting refugees.
According to representatives of the churches, no one guided by the Christian view of humanity, has the right to revoke individual access to refugee protection in Europe.
Stefan Heße, the Catholic Archbishop of Hamburg, and Christian Steplin, the Protestant Bishop of Berlin, have written in an article that: “God meets us in those who need protection in this world, and that is why He forbids us to reveal their rights.”
The article came after revealing the desire of the Christian Democratic Party to include in its primary program, the policy of deporting refugees to a third country, to become a permanent policy for the party. The third country policy is one of the most objected against measurements in Europe, especially from human rights organizations, the left and the Greens. In addition, the initial deportation from Britain have witnessed large protests from opponents.
Representatives of both churches, Heße and Steplin, believe that the idea of deportation to a third country is acceptable: “It blatantly contradicts heading towards Christian values” and it means, “Going down the wrong path morally and legally”, as well as that the officials must hold political responsibility and address the refugee issue with concrete solutions.”
According to German churches, continued calls to address the issue of immigration through external sources will not make the situation better, and in fact, the only ones who benefit from this are the extremist forces in Germany. Moreover, the European Union and Germany will abdicate responsibility for protecting refugees, and the Geneva Refugee Convention will be weakened. In addition, the individual right to asylum in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Basic Law will also be abolished, because Germany will practically abandon assessing the extent of the need for protection
