A recent court ruling in Germany has sparked controversy over the government’s handling of asylum seekers. Three Somali nationals—two men and one woman—sued the German government after being returned to Poland on May 9, following the country’s newly implemented border controls.
The regulation, introduced by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the Christian Democrat Party (CDU), aimed to streamline asylum procedures and prevent multiple applications across different countries. Under these rules, the three individuals were detained by the Federal Police and sent back to Poland the same day on the grounds that they had passed through a “safe third country.”
However, the Administrative Court found the government’s actions to be unlawful. The court ruled that the asylum seekers, having expressed a desire for protection, should have been allowed to proceed with their applications, even if under certain restrictions. The court pointed out that the Dublin Regulation requires verification of which country is responsible for processing the asylum claim—typically the first European country the asylum seekers entered. In this case, the German government could not justify its actions by invoking an emergency exception to the regulation, as it failed to demonstrate a clear risk to public safety or order.
Marcel Emmerich, the domestic policy spokesperson for the Greens in the Bundestag, slammed the policy as unlawful. He criticized the government’s actions as symbolic politics, calling it “a blatant violation of the law” that endangered both the rights of asylum seekers and the European Union’s unity. The Greens had previously warned that such policies would lead to legal breaches, which now appear to have materialized.
In contrast, Günter Krings, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, downplayed the significance of the ruling. He argued that the decision, based on a preliminary legal review, should not be overemphasized. While respecting the court’s ruling for this specific case, Krings believed the border rejections were in line with European law’s intent and did not think the Ministry of the Interior should alter its approach.
The issue of migration has been a prominent topic in Germany’s recent elections, which saw the rise of right-wing parties. The CDU, after forming a coalition with the Left, had to scale back many of its election promises. One of the few policy shifts it managed to implement was the tougher stance on border controls, including the return of migrants at the border. However, this latest court ruling suggests that such practices may not be as legally sound as the government had hoped.
