Merkel
appeases allies on refugees
Chancellor
makes concessions to Bavarian conservatives.
By MATTHEW
KARNITSCHNIG 11/5/15, 10:52 PM CET Updated 11/5/15, 11:07 PM CET
http://www.politico.eu/article/merkel-allies-refugees-truce-cdu-csu-seehofer-gabriel-migration-deal/
BERLIN — Angela
Merkel defused a dispute within her coalition over her government’s
handling of the refugee crisis Thursday by agreeing to accelerate the
deportation of rejected asylum seekers from the Balkans and other
areas classified as “safe,” a symbolic gesture that critics say
is aimed at quelling unrest in the conservative wing of her party.
The compromise,
brokered between the German leader, Bavaria premier Horst Seehofer
and Vice Chancellor and Social Democrat leader Sigmar Gabriel —
representatives of the ruling “grand coalition” — followed
weeks of often acrimonious debate within the government over whether
and how Germany could slow the influx of refugees.
Though the rift
never threatened Merkel’s government, it has been a major
distraction that has complicated her efforts to find support for her
policies in Europe.
Under the agreement,
refugees from what Germany considers “safe harbor” states — a
list that was recently expanded to include the countries of the
western Balkans — could be deported within two weeks of being
registered, Merkel said. The refugees would be processed in new
“admission centers.”
“We’re
proceeding in the spirit that we can do this and that we want to do
this,” said Merkel, echoing what has become her rallying cry
tacking the crisis — “wir schaffen das,” we can do it.
Safe harbor
countries, which include Albania, Macedonia and Serbia, accounted for
about 16 percent of asylum applications so far this year. More than
90 percent of applicants from such countries are rejected, but the
asylum seekers often remain in Germany anyway.
The recent surge in
refugees from Syria and other war zones has triggered calls for an
acceleration of deportations.
It’s unclear how
effective the measures agreed Thursday will be in stemming the flow
of refugees, however.
Though asylum
seekers from safe harbor countries have come in large numbers in the
past, the threat of a crackdown by Germany has led recently to a
steep drop off. What’s more, some legal experts have questioned
whether German courts will accept the accelerated deportation
timetable and other aspects of the plan presented by the government.
Those doubts have
prompted the opposition and other critics to dismiss the government’s
plans as little more than a political tactic aimed at assuaging
unnerved conservatives.
The agreement comes
as Bavaria, Germany’s southernmost province and the main point of
entry for refugees arriving in Germany, has struggled to cope with
the refugee burden in recent months. In October alone, Germany
registered 181,000 refugees, bringing the total for the year to
758,000, the government said Thursday.
Seehofer, leader of
the Bavarian sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democrats, has
emerged as the one of the chancellor’s most vocal critics, accusing
her of unleashing a refugee wave that Germany can no longer control.
Unease over Merkel’s
refugee policies has also triggered a surge in support for the
populist Alternative for Germany. Many of the party’s supporters
defected from Merkel’s Christian Democrats, a development that
worries many mainstream conservatives.
Seehofer had been
clamoring for tougher border controls and an “upper limit” for
the number of refugees German would accept. The Bavarian leader also
called for the establishment of “transit zones” on the border to
help accelerate the processing and deportation of many of the new
arrivals.
Those measures were
rejected as unrealistic and inhumane by Merkel and Gabriel’s Social
Democrats. Instead, the leaders agreed to set up between three and
five processing centers, two of which will be located in Bavaria.
The centers will
handle asylum applications from safe harbor countries, though not
those from Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan, the origin for many of the
recent refugees. Refugees assigned to the center will face stricter
limits on their freedom of movement. The government’s aim is to
process the refugees and deport the rejected asylum seekers as
quickly as possible.
The three leaders
stressed that the measures were part of a broader plan to resolve the
crisis that includes stricter controls on the EU’s external borders
and convincing Turkey to keep more of the refugees.
“If we can
implement all of these things, we have a good chance of winning the
public’s trust,” Seehofer said.
Authors:
Matthew Karnitschnig
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