An asylum application lies on a table with a judge’s gavel (symbol image) Photo: picture alliance / picture agency-o
From Hildburg Bruns
Always more, always longer. An asylum lawsuit before the Berlin administrative court is currently only decided after 27.5 months. In the case of an appeal in the next instance, a procedure is extended to a total of more than three years.
“We are currently having the longest procedure in asylum matters in a decade,” criticizes MP Maren Jasper-Winter (45). “Even during the refugee crisis from 2015 to 2017, the procedures could be processed more quickly.” At that time, they lasted less than nine months in the first instance.
The FDP politician immediately calls for more judges to process the almost 8,000 pending cases. On average, an asylum judge received 159 new procedures on the table in 2021, compared to 106 in 2020. 166 were settled last year, and 235 old cases remained unresolved.
“It is simply unacceptable that asylum seekers have to wait after a lengthy process for a decision on which their own work permit, career prospects or even family reunification depend,” says Jasper-Winter.
Their demand for the future: an immigration law that removes bureaucratic hurdles, makes procedures clearer and enables a change of lane for direct access to the job market.