The Berlin Police Union is calling for a greater police presence in refugee shelters to facilitate faster deportations. Stefan Weh, the state head of the GDP, emphasized that planned deportations necessitate current documentation, and it is essential for immigration authorities to receive this information promptly to ensure successful deportation processes. As a result, the Berlin Police Union is calling for mandatory registration at refugee accommodation sites.
The Union attributes the frequent failures of deportations to the police’s inability to locate individuals scheduled for deportation at their known addresses, owing to early warnings disseminated through social media. Stefan Weh stated that the Berlin House of Representatives Interior Committee will address this issue this week. “If we don’t halt the early warning system, there will be no more deportations,” Weh emphasized.
According to the Berlin Police Union, the government should permit the police to use legal detention for deportations to ensure their successful execution. “This includes establishing an appropriate facility equipped with the necessary humanitarian and logistical resources,” stated Weh. The union believes that the joint center at Brandenburg Airport would be an ideal location for this purpose.
Despite the government’s recent tightening of immigration policy following the Solingen attack, deportations often face challenges. The State Migration Office reported that in August 2024, 42 deportations to Moldova were executed. However, of the 330 individuals scheduled for deportation in September, only 10 were actually deported to Georgia.
The Migration Office states that the Berlin police significantly overstate the number of arrests. This discrepancy arises from the police’s difficulty in locating individuals to be deported at the addresses registered with the immigration authorities, resulting in a decrease in deportations during the first half of this year.
Deportations in the first six months of the year decreased by 19%, totaling 516, with 395 resulting from arrests. In contrast, 2023 saw 635 deportations, of which 487 were due to successful arrests. Experts suggest that the increase in deportations in 2023 was influenced by the European Football Championship held in France, along with Germany’s implementation of temporary border controls at its border with France during the summer of that year.
The increase in deportations, particularly for individuals convicted of crimes, occurred against the backdrop of stricter immigration policies following the violent Solingen attack. As a result, Germany began deporting individuals to even unsafe countries like Syria and to nations, such as Afghanistan, with which it had severed diplomatic ties.
