The German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported that the country's first center for the compulsory return of rejected asylum seekers is poised to be operational before the end of the year. German Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry Stephan Mayer explained that the Federal Police will be put in charge of running the facility, which is yet to be set up.

Mayer told Süddeutsche Zeitung that the issue was being treated as a matter of "utmost priority" in the new government which was only formed last month. 

"I am confident that a document highlighting its corner points will be presented after the Easter holidays," he said.

Germany's new Interior Minister Horst Seehofer hopes to raise cooperation with all German states as well as other relevant ministries in order to both expedite asylum processes but also to raise the overall number of deportations as part of what he referred to as a "masterplan." 

As part of his strategy, Seehofer wants to look into moving certain immigration-related responsibilities currently held by state governments to the federal government.

Location to be determined

Undersecretary Mayer further explained that existing facilities already serving refugees and asylum seekers would lend themselves best for realizing the plans. He mentioned that transit centers in Manching or Bamberg in the state of Bavaria could be likely candidates for the undertaking.

However, a first arrival center in Giessen in the state of Hesse with a capacity to host up to 16,000 people could also be taken into consideration. 

Mayer also wants to increase the number of spots for detainees pending deportation. At present, there is only a nationwide capacity to host up to 400 detainees – a number which, according to Mayer, is "way too little."

Anchor centers as a political tool

Germany's Interior Ministry wants to model further so-called "anchor centers" (Anker-Zentren) after the design of the first center for compulsory return. These anchor centers are intended to deal with all matters concerned with asylum applications in one place as opposed to the current model, in which various responsibilities are divided between different ministries and authorities. Deportations and returns are also intended to be coordinated and carried out by these facilities.

Meanwhile the Federal Police has also started to push back against the idea of being in charge of centers for refected asylum seeker, saying that their forces were already overstretched.

"Guarding and caring for people who are to be forced out of the country is not police work," said Joerg Radek, head of the police union, according to dpa.

The introduction of the country's first center for compulsory return is, however, also seen as a political ploy: the facility is due to be operational in time for state elections in Bavaria – a traditional stronghold of Interior Minister Seehofer's Christian Social Union (CSU) party, which is trying to prevent its more conservative voter base from defecting to the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), which runs on an anti-immigration platform.