Published : 28-03-2020
The German Foreign Ministry has temporarily suspended deportation/reception flights to/from European countries in line with its plan to respond to the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
Last week, Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) said it was no longer conducting in person asylum hearings to reduce the risk of infection with the coronavirus. However, BAMF said written applications would still be processed and that there were exceptions to the rule.
The measure dovetails The Dublin III Regulation, which has been ratified in all the EU countries, as well as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. In principle, the state responsible for asylum application is the European country the asylum seeker first entered when he/she arrived in the EU or the one which has issued the entry visa.
As part of Dublin procedures, the asylum seeker’s initial fingerprint is entered into a database that is searchable by police throughout the EU. If they apply for asylum in another country, their fingerprint will come up; Their claim does not have to be considered and they can face deportation back to the country where they were first registered. Those who are sent back are referred to as having been “Dublined”.
Hundreds of Palestinian refugees fleeing war-torn Syria have been subjected to refoulement by European countries, where they had landed after being rescued from over-packed vessels off the Mediterranean coast.
As political attitudes in Europe have shifted against asylum seekers and refugees, the number of deportation requests under Dublin has skyrocketed. Palestinian refugees are separated from friends and sometimes family in communities where they have started to build new lives.
The German Foreign Ministry has temporarily suspended deportation/reception flights to/from European countries in line with its plan to respond to the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
Last week, Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) said it was no longer conducting in person asylum hearings to reduce the risk of infection with the coronavirus. However, BAMF said written applications would still be processed and that there were exceptions to the rule.
The measure dovetails The Dublin III Regulation, which has been ratified in all the EU countries, as well as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. In principle, the state responsible for asylum application is the European country the asylum seeker first entered when he/she arrived in the EU or the one which has issued the entry visa.
As part of Dublin procedures, the asylum seeker’s initial fingerprint is entered into a database that is searchable by police throughout the EU. If they apply for asylum in another country, their fingerprint will come up; Their claim does not have to be considered and they can face deportation back to the country where they were first registered. Those who are sent back are referred to as having been “Dublined”.
Hundreds of Palestinian refugees fleeing war-torn Syria have been subjected to refoulement by European countries, where they had landed after being rescued from over-packed vessels off the Mediterranean coast.
As political attitudes in Europe have shifted against asylum seekers and refugees, the number of deportation requests under Dublin has skyrocketed. Palestinian refugees are separated from friends and sometimes family in communities where they have started to build new lives.
