More than 300 advocacy groups and international organizations have written an open letter to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposing the possibility of detaining asylum seekers in third countries for processing.
“Please express a clear rejection of plans to outsource asylum procedures,” the authors demand in the letter published on Wednesday. Signatories include Amnesty International Germany, Médecins Sans Frontières (Médecins Sans Frontières) and the migrant advocacy group Pro Asyl.
The open letter was released ahead of Scholz’s meeting with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states in Berlin on Thursday, where the issue is expected to be a key topic.
The German Ministry of the Interior is currently investigating the possibility of outsourcing asylum procedures to third countries outside the European Union.
State-level home ministers will also meet on Wednesday evening for three days of talks, which are expected to be dominated by discussions on migration policy, asylum and deportations. They meet in Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin.
The killing of a police officer by a knife-wielding migrant in the German city of Mannheim in late May has sparked renewed debate over whether Germany should deport people convicted of serious crimes to countries such as Syria and Afghanistan.
The authors of the open letter warn that serious human rights violations are to be expected if the asylum procedure is outsourced to countries outside the EU. They argue that the reception of asylum seekers and their integration into society can run more smoothly if there is more cooperation.
“Plans to deport refugees to non-European third countries or to carry out asylum procedures outside the EU, on the other hand, do not work in practice, are extremely expensive and pose a threat to the rule of law,” the letters say.
According to the authors, the current debate about the plan is already having an impact in both Germany and other EU countries.
“Such plans often cause great fear among refugees and increase the risk of self-harm and suicide,” the letter said.
Scholz announced plans to resume deportations to those countries after the Mannheim attack, despite concerns from advocates about human rights abuses there. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, a Green, also spoke out in favor of this on Wednesday.
