German court rules asylum seekers unlawfully expelled at Polish border | Human Rights News

The judges say that Berlin has violated EU law by refusing the entry of Somali asylum seekers.

A Berlin court judged that Germany had violated the asylum law when it expelled three Somali nationals at its border with Poland in a decision that questions Chancellor Friedrich Merz aggressive position of migration.

The three asylum seekers – two men and a woman – were returned by border police in a Frankfurt station and a city of the eastern border of Germany.

“The applicants could not demand from the adoption of Germany beyond the border passage,” the court said in a statement on Monday. “However, rejection was illegal because Germany is forced to process their complaints.”

Officials cited the arrival of asylum seekers from a “secure third country” as a reason for refusal.

But the court determined that the expulsion was illegal under the rules of the European Union, in particular the regulations of Dublin, which obliges Germany to assess asylum complaints if it is the responsible State under the agreement.

He marks the first legal decision of this type since the coalition led by the Merz conservatives took office in February, surfing a wave of anti-immigration feelings that helped stimulate the Far -right alternative for the Germany partyNow the second greatest political force in the country in Parliament.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt defended the deportations, saying that the asylum system failed under pressure. “The figures are too high. We stick to our practice,” he told journalists, adding that the court would receive legal justifications for the government’s position.

Migration policies in doubt

But opposition legislators were quick to capitalize on the decision. Irene Mihalic of the Greens called him “severe defeat” for the Merz government, accusing him of going beyond his powers “for populist purposes”.

“Border blockages were a rejection of the European Dublin system and offended our European neighbors,” she said.

Karl Kopp, director general of Pro Asyl, a defense group for immigration defenders, said that the expulsion of Somalians reflected an “illegal unilateral action practice” in asylum policy and called for their return to Germany, reported the Reuters news agency.

The decision is also a doubt about the wider migration program of Merz. In May, his government introduced a directive to bring back undocumented people to the German borders, including those looking for asylum – a net gap in the more open policy of the former Chancellor Angela Merkel during the 2015 migrant crisis.

Last month, the European Commission proposed a mechanism on the scale of the block which would allow the Member States to reject the asylum seekers who crossed a “safe” third country. The measure, widely criticized by the rights defending groups, still awaits the approval of national parliaments and the European Legislative Assembly.