According to police in the northeastern city of Schwerin, an Afghan family of six barricaded themselves into a property belonging to a local church as police officers attempted to carry out a deportation order for two young men in the group, aged 18 and 22.

The Protestant Church for Northern Germany said the two adult sons were pegged to be deported to Spain to have their asylum case assessed there, as this was where they had first entered the European Union. The removal order had been issued five days earlier.

After about four hours of negotiating with the family, the police eventually forced their way into the apartment. During this raid, the 22-year-old deportee was slightly injured — "likely with a piece of broken glass," as reported by the DPA news agency; his 47-year-old mother meanwhile was said to have been found "in a state of mental distress."

Both had to be taken to hospital, and criminal proceedings were opened against the mother on account of issuing threats against the police and attempting to use coercion in the difficult situation. EPD reported that the mother had threatened to harm herself or another family member.

The police also said that concealed knives were found on both her person and on the body of the 22-year-old deportee when they stormed the property — as well as on one of the daughters of the family. Assuming that this, too, could signal the intention of harm or self-harm, the deportation operation eventually had to be cancelled.

A local resident meanwhile was also reported as having tried to interfere in the police operation by blocking access to the apartment and thus trying to prevent the deportation of the two young men from taking place, police sources said.

Regional authorities will now have to decide how to proceed with the case.

Also read: Bremen court ruling: Benefits can be cut for migrants receiving church asylum

'Crossing a red line'

Meanwhile, criticism has been raised against the way the police operation unfolded, with the Refugee Council highlighting that the use of force to deport people who had sought church asylum marked the crossing of a red line.

In a statement, the Refugee Council said that this raid also served as a signal "directed at church communities, which are now unsure whether they can continue to offer refugees refuge and hope."

The refugee commissioner of the regional Protestant Church, Dietlind Jochims, criticized the attempted deportation as "shameful and incompatible with principles pertaining to human rights."

Authorities in Germany are increasingly trying to clamp down on instances of church asylum, which is considered a legal grey area.

Also read: Rejected asylum application: What are my options?

Deportations on the rise

In recent weeks, the overall number of deportations from Germany has generally been on the rise, according to the latest number issued by the government.

In 2022, a total of 12,945 decorations were carried out throughout the entire year. In 2023, that number was already exceeded in October.

Austria, Georgia, North Macedonia, Moldova and Albania are the top five countries to which people have been deported in the outgoing year.

Also read: German interior minister proposes making returns and deportations easier

Meanwhile the number of people who have been issued deportation orders is on the decline. Last year, more than 262,000 people had been issued a deportation order, while in 2023, that number remained below 251,000.

However, it is unclear whether this marks an actual fall in numbers or whether this shift is due to changes to Germany's immigration law introduced this year, which allow some people with a deportation order to change their immigration status to a more regular one.

The majority of people who are issued with deportation orders in Germany, however, are issued a so-called "tolerance permit" ("Duldung"), which allows them to remain in the country while their home countries remain too dangerous to return to.

Video: Church asylum – the last resort for rejected asylum seekers

With dpa, EPD