By Gunnar Schupelius
Although states and municipalities have long been overwhelmed, the Federal Ministry of the Interior is still bringing people into the country. This policy is unreasonable and irresponsible, says Gunnar Schupelius.
While Germany is discussing the uncontrolled immigration of asylum seekers, the federal government is also operating a legal settlement of refugees, which is hardly reported on.
This is how the settlement looks like this year: Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faser (SPD) ordered the admission of a total of 6,500 refugees who have to be flown in directly from their home countries.
“The persons to be admitted are in particular Afghan, Syrian, Iraqi, Sudanese, South Sudanese, Somali, Yemeni and Eritrean nationals,” the ministry wrote in a statement on February 15.
These are people who have been “recognized as refugees in the resettlement process” by the UN (UNHCR). “Resettlement” means the planned relocation from crisis areas.
The minister relies on the Residence Act. There it says in § 23, 4: “The Federal Ministry of the Interior (…) can order within the framework of the resettlement of persons seeking protection (…) that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees certain persons seeking protection (resettlement refugees) who have been selected for resettlement receive an acceptance letter granted.”
These refugees do not go through an asylum procedure, they are given a right of residence without further ado. The interior ministers of the federal states made the decision to participate in resettlement in 2011, and initially only a few refugees were accepted. Only with the Scholz government did their number multiply from 1,467 in 2020 to 5,946 in 2021. This year it should even be 6,500.
From the beginning of 2017 to the end of 2022, a total of 19,836 resettlement refugees were admitted. The federal government paid 76.4 million euros for their transport and initial reception. The Ministry of the Interior now gave this sum to the Bundestag member Stephan Brandner (AfD) when asked. Data from before 2017 are not available, it said.
How to evaluate the resettlement policy? It actually makes sense to take in people who you know are really in need of protection. This is what the program means: You want to guarantee orderly immigration.
But this ignores the fact that there is also a disorderly immigration that has gotten out of control: More and more people are entering the country illegally and demanding asylum, although they are not entitled to asylum.
The resettlement comes on top of this onslaught. And what’s more, in the last 14 months, the federal government has brought in 52,500 Afghans to whom it feels obliged because of the war.
Overall, these numbers are far too high. There is no longer any living space and no suitable work, no kindergarten and no school places.
And as long as it stays that way, resettlement refugees cannot be flown in as well. That’s perfectly clear.
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