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Refugees in Germany: The omnipresent border regime

Britta Rabe, Grundrechtekomitee

Sign that says "Fleeing war is not terrorism, dehumanising people is!"

When people reach EU territory alive after fleeing through the desert, over sea and land, and have survived pushbacks, beatings and perhaps even torture, they are also confronted with an exclusionary system within Fortress Europe that makes their arrival difficult or even impossible in many ways. They have to realize that the EU border regime extends all the way into Germany. Borders permeate our societies invisibly, but tangibly for those they exclude. People arriving in Germany become second class citizens: the border regime is omnipresent and isolates and controls as an immigration control authority; it divides people into the categories “useful”, “without prospects of staying” or “criminal”; it detains and deports. The border regime punishes, has a variety of weapons, thinks purely in terms of deterrence and can be deadly.

The deportation regime

There are hardly any legal entry routes into the European Union; a restrictive visa regime only allows financially well-off people to enter the country. One of the few legal options is to apply for asylum. An aggressive EU border regime attempts to prevent as many people as possible from exercising this right, or to deny them access. Germany is not the only country that welcomes people seeking protection with mistrust and grants asylum extremely restrictively. Numerous tightenings of laws serve to enable certain groups of asylum seekers to be deported from Germany more quickly. The list of “safe countries of origin” to which deportation is permitted is constantly growing. Deterrence is also intended to prevent people from coming to Germany in the first place, and massive violations of fundamental rights are accepted. Constant tightening of the law stigmatizes people seeking protection and, above all, signals that refugees are a threat that must be fended off.

Deportations are an integral part of the EU border regime. In dedicated deportation centers, such as those planned at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport and on the Oder-Insel in Brandenburg, everything from asylum applications in fast-track procedures to detention pending deportation is to take place under one roof, far away from the general public. The detention system currently has around 800 places in deportation prisons across Germany, and the number is set to increase as more people are to be deported and more people detained in a racist crackdown. In 2022, there were around 5,000 people in detention pending deportation, meaning that the deportation prisons are only filled to half capacity. The official purpose of detention is to enforce the deportation of those affected. However, more detentions do not necessarily lead to more people being deported; their intention is obviously more imprisonment as such.

In its most recent amendment, the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) excludes certain refugees from even the most basic care: People who want to live in Germany but have protection status in another EU country or have had their asylum application rejected by another EU country are now literally thrown out onto the street. After a maximum of two weeks, accommodation, food, physical and health care will be withdrawn and people will be left homeless with no money, no food, and no medical assistance, regardless of their social and medical situation.

Consequences of the punishment system

People who have fled to Germany are also particularly affected by the German punishment system. Some criminal offenses are specifically linked to non-German origin and an uncertain residence status and cannot be committed by people with a German passport. For example, anyone who does not comply with official reporting obligations or spatial restrictions such as the “residence restriction” (Residenzpflicht) is punished.

Criminal convictions are grounds for exclusion from a residence permit: Anyone who has been sentenced to more than 50 days of punishment for general criminal offenses or more than 90 days of punishment for criminal offenses under the Residence or Asylum Act (for example, in the case of not having a passport or “illegal entry”) will generally not receive a residence permit. Even small fines can result in not receiving a residence permit in order to get out of the status of “Toleration”(Duldung). In addition to the actual penalty, people can also lose their residence permit, be deported, and have to leave Germany. In this way, people without German citizenship are punished several times over.

Reasons for deportation can be activities in or support for “terrorist or anti-constitutional organizations”, such as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is banned in Germany. Asylum is often not granted in this case, and those affected are deported to Turkey even though they are threatened with political persecution there. If someone is accused of a “serious crime”, similar consequences apply: Even a single comment on social media that “glorifies or condones” a crime defined as terrorist can now result in deportation. Other minor reasons can also result in deportation, for example for repeated misdemeanors or on the basis of mere suspicion.

It has recently become even easier to deport people who have been convicted of crimes. People who are still undergoing asylum proceedings are particularly at risk. In the case of juvenile sentences of at least three years, asylum seekers can be excluded from refugee status under certain circumstances; convictions for minor offenses such as driving without a ticket, shoplifting or drug offences can have serious consequences for refugees.

Solidarity, resistance and support

People everywhere are grassroots organizing against the EU's racist isolationist policies; there is a diverse, transnational movement of grassroots initiatives both outside and inside the EU. In various ways, they share knowledge about freedom of movement practices and offer people protection and support.

During the journey, refugees receive information and support from telephone hotlines such as the Alarmphone Sahara, the Watch the Med Alarmphone, from self-organized refugee initiatives such as Refugees in Libya and Tunisia. As fleeing does not end when you arrive in Europe, you also need help to arrive and stay.

People can get actively involved everywhere, both at the external borders and in Germany. In many places, people in solidarity are creating spaces of refuge:

Links and resources

Information and contacts for refugees and migrants on their way through Europe

Welcome2Europe

Maldusa - Facilitate Freedom of Movement

Against Pushbacks

Push-Back Alarm Austria

Abolish Frontex

La voix des migrants

Afrique Europe Interact

Help in cases of criminalization on the journey: captains support

Against the deportation regime

NO ai CPR

Abschiebezentrum BER verhindern Borderline in Italien

Stop Deportation Prisons - Düsseldorf

Borderline Europe

Balkanbridge

Citizen Refuge as places of rest: Übersicht über die Initiativen bundesweit

Fight against deportations and detention

Nationwide: Network Welcome United

Help for people in deportation detention Büren e.V.

Against Deportation Detention Darmstadt

Collection of Information on resisting deportations

Getting the voice out (Belgium)

Collection of addresses and initiatives Europe-wide: Welcome to Europe

Britta Rabe has been active in anti-racist initiatives for many years, from local to transnational. Since 2018, she has been working as a political advisor for borders/migration and prisons/politics of punishment at the Grundrechtekomitee in Cologne. She is active in her free time with “Watch the Med - Alarmphone”, among other initiatives.

Cases from our archive

Case 23

A woman comes to Germany for health treatment, her family collecting thousands of euros to prepay costs and secure a visa. A federal agency accuses her of forging identity documents. Despite the prosecution admitting lack of evidence for intentional deception and requesting acquittal, the court sentences her to a harsh fine, jeopardizing both her stay in Germany and her health.

Enforcing Borders
Fine
Fraud

Case 22

A man is held in pretrial detention for months and sentenced to a fine of several thousand euros for selling cannabis. Although at the time of the trial, the legalization of cannabis consumption and further decriminalization of possession and supply is imminent, the court strongly condemns the defendant's actions. The prosecutor described them as “extremely reprehensible”.

Enforcing Borders
Fine
Drug Offense

Case 20

Three young defendants are summoned to fast-track proceedings (Schnellgericht) for a low-level theft case. Because the court has not lined up an interpreter for one of them, he will not be heard and instead will be sentenced with summary proceedings (Strafbefehl), meaning he will receive his sentence in the mail. After a quick hearing, the other two are each punished with €600 fines.

Enforcing Borders
Fine
Theft

Case 19

After being jailed for over six weeks in pretrial detention for theft, a young man is punished with an additional six months in prison. The judge, prosecutor, and even his attorney emphasize that they hope the harsh sentence pushes him to move back to his former country of residence.

Enforcing Borders
Prison
Theft