A day after he was sworn in as the new German interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt announced that Germany would start rejecting asylum seekers at its borders. He said that he was not planning to close the borders, but will be operating more extensive checks on and near its borders. He said police checks would be increased "step by step" to reject more people at its borders, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday (May 7).

Dobrindt said that he would withdraw a 2015 directive to the chief of the German federal police that asylum seekers should not be rejected at the border.

He said that exceptions would be made for "vulnerable groups," including pregnant women and children.

The new German government – made up of the conservative CDU/CSU parties and the social democratic SPD – is expected to implement a number of measures aimed at restricting the rights of migrants and refugees in Germany. New chancellor Friedrich Merz and his conservatives campaigned on a right-wing anti-migration platform, though one less radical than that of the far right AfD. Dobrindt (CSU) is considered to be part of the right wing of the conservatives.

Refugee advocates criticize decision

Several prominent organizations and activists advocating for the rights of refugees and migrants in Germany heavily criticized Dobrindt’s decision to turn asylum seekers back at the border.

"The Merz coalition and Minister Dobrindt are now openly planning to break the law. In doing so, they are not only depriving people of their individual rights, but are also demanding that their own police officers commit a crime," Erik Marquardt said on the social media platforms BlueSky and X. The Green politician is a member of the EU parliament who focuses on asylum rights in his work. He added that "the EU Commission explained [last year] that blanket rejections are not legal and that a Dublin procedure must be followed."

The organization ProAsyl said on the social media platform X that they were "examining legal steps" to prevent "pushbacks at the German border."

On Instagram, their refugee policy spokesperson Tareq Alaows shared a video message reaction to Dobrindt's announcement, saying that he was at the federal police station in Frankfurt (Oder), located on the border with Poland. He said that he expected that someone would soon be expelled from there, and that he would offer that person the legal help of his organization, in the hope that if taken to trial, courts would strike down the policy.

Several state refugee councils also criticized Dobrindt's policy. The Bavarian refugee council called the plans "a severe attack against constitutional principles," saying that no one seeking asylum should be turned back at the border.

On Tuesday, when the new German government was sworn in, 293 organizations published an appeal to the new government, calling on the cabinet to implement a "responsible migration policy." In their letter, the organizations – which included ProAsyl, a number of refugee councils, prominent charity organizations such as the German Caritas, and the German Trade Union Confederation DGB – said that "rejections at the borders […] and a reversal of the burden of proof in asylum procedures to the detriment of refugees are incompatible with [a responsible migration policy]."

What are the reactions from neighboring countries?

Germany’s plans to reject more people at its borders could also lead to tension with some of its neighbors. Germany shares a border with nine countries, all of which are part of the Schengen free travel zone.

The coalition agreement between the conservatives and social democrats states that moves to reject asylum seekers at the German border would be taken "in coordination with our European neighbors."

But at least one neighboring country indicated that they had not been consulted ahead of Dobrindt’s announcement.

Switzerland’s federal department of justice and police said in a post on X: "From Switzerland's perspective, the systematic rejections at the border constitute a violation of current law. Switzerland regrets that Germany took this measure without consultations."

When new German chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Poland on Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also criticized the border rejection policy, saying that if Germany increased checks, they would do the same.

Ahead of the announcement by Dobrindt, Luxembourg's Interior Minister Léon Gloden said: "We must avoid creating borders in people's minds again. Schengen must live! Unnecessary disruptions to cross-border traffic must be avoided, in the interest of the daily lives of the people in the Greater region." 

Is it legal for Germany to reject asylum seekers at the border?

The question as to whether the decision to reject asylum seekers at Germany’s border is legal is under discussion.

When asked about the legality of the new border rejections by reporters, Dobrindt said that their decision was legally based in part on paragraph 18 of German asylum law, which states that foreigners can be rejected at the border if they are coming from a safe third country or there are indications that another state is responsible for processing their asylum claim. Within the Schengen zone, the so-called Dublin Regulation currently means that the an asylum seeker is only entitled to asylum in the first country of the zone in which they filed a claim.

However, many EU law experts familiar with the Dublin Regulation believe that the laws of the European Union do not allow border rejections even of asylum seekers coming from other member states. That’s because each state is required to first thoroughly investigate which state is responsible for the claim, and then deport them to that state via an orderly process.

With AFP