The head of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Saskia Esken, has ruled out the idea of sending asylum seekers abroad to have their claims processed.

"The forced externalization of asylum procedures violates the Geneva Convention, which by the way was created in reaction to the mass displacement caused the the Nazis," she told German news agency DPA, referring to the period in German history from 1933 until 1945 when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party led the country under a fascist dictatorship.

Esken also added that "the European Commission has discarded [similar] plans as non-compatible with EU law, the European Court of Human Rights has stopped the British Rwanda plans, and the UNHCR has declined any collaboration in a Rwanda model."

Esken's SPD is currently part of a coalition leading the German government, while the CDU is in the opposition. The next federal election in Germany is scheduled for the fall of 2025.

Conservatives seeking to 'outsource' asylum procedures

Esken's comments come after the conservative CDU party had floated the idea of sending asylum seekers to non-EU countries -- similar to the UK's Rwanda plan.

A proposal to this end had recently been included in a draft for the CDU's "basic principles program." The party said it wanted to send all people who file for asylum in Germany to a non-EU country deemed safe.

If granted asylum, they should then stay in that country and not be moved to Germany, the CDU's proposal states. Prominent CDU lawmaker Jens Spahn recently mentioned Rwanda, Ghana, Georgia and Moldova as options for this plan.

What is the UK's Rwanda plan?

In April 2022, the UK government announced that it planned to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. So far, however, no one has actually been send to Rwanda, due to a lengthy legal battle between the government and opponents of the policy.

Both the European Court of Human Rights and the UK Supreme Court have ruled against the Rwanda plan.

However, the UK cabinet under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is still pursuing the policy. Currently, they are trying to a get a bill passed which would deem Rwanda safe; this may allow the UK to send asylum seekers to the East African nation.

Some believe meanwhile that even such a bill could again be ruled unlawful by the courts, making the Rwanda plan even more elusive.

Are other European countries planning to send asylum seekers abroad?

Denmark has also considered sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. However, it appears that the government is unlikely to become proactive about the plan until the UK manages to overcome its legal hurdles.

Italy meanwhile signed a deal with Albania to send asylum seekers there. The policy would apply specifically to people rescued outside of EU waters, meaning not to people rescued in the Italian rescue zone in the Central Mediterranean. The agreement is, however, yet to be ratified:

Albania's top court is currently examining whether the plan is legal – temporarily blocking the plans earlier this month.

The next hearings in the matter are scheduled to take place early next year.

Why are some politicians pushing for asylum procedures abroad?

Advocates of sending asylum seekers abroad argue that this would deter migration and keep people from setting off on dangerous journeys.

The CDU's Jens Spahn has said that if their proposed policy were to be implemented, "the numbers [of asylum seekers] would go down dramatically."

Refugee rights activists meanwhile worry that such policies could expose people who already are vulnerable and in need of help to even further risks and hardship.

Different proposals for third country asylum procedures

Over the past few years, several politicians and migration experts have suggested allowing for asylum procedures to take place before people set off on dangerous journeys towards Europe.

This would also mean that asylum processing centers outside EU countries like Germany would need to be opened, as was suggested by several German SPD politicians in November.

People would be allowed to ask for visas as refugees and – if deemed eligible – could then travel more safely to Europe. However, the response from prominent SPD leaders – including Chancellor Olaf Scholz – was sceptical, according to a recent report by the German public television news broadcast Tagesschau.

Asylum and other forms of international protection are usually only granted at a countries' border or within the country, not from abroad.