Sky News
Updated Thu 5 September 2024
Germany is considering sending migrants to Rwanda - weeks after the UK ditched a similar plan.
Migrants deported from Germany could be sent to the same accommodation originally intended for the UK's now-abandoned scheme, migration minister Joachim Stamp suggested.
German politicians are under pressure to tackle illegal migration after three people were killed by a Syrian national at a festival in Solingen - an attack for which Islamic State has claimed responsibility.
In addition, a far-right party has won a regional election in Germany for the first time since the Second World War.
The threat of deportation to Kigali was intended to deter migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Should Germany decide to pursue the idea it has only one option at present, Mr Stamp said.
"We currently have no third country that has come forward, with the exception of Rwanda," he told a podcast by Table Media.
Those most likely to be processed in the African country are people crossing the EU's eastern borders.
"My suggestion would be that we concentrate on this group - it's about 10,000 people a year," Mr Stamp said.
Rwanda has said it is willing to continue pursuing the idea, he added.
Rishi Sunak's government faced a series of legal challenges to its Rwanda scheme and not a single flight took off.
Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, scrapped the plan as soon as Labour came to power in early July.
The scheme cost £700m of taxpayers' money, the home secretary has said.
Regarding the German proposal, a Downing Street spokesperson said they would not comment on discussions between other nations.
"Policies pursued by other countries are a matter for them. Our position with regard to Rwanda is well known," they added.
Mr Stamp said asylum procedures in Rwanda would be conducted under the supervision of the United Nations.
He has also suggested removing the so-called "connecting element" in the new Common European Asylum System, which currently requires external asylum procedures to be conducted in countries where the asylum seeker has a social connection.
In December, the European Union agreed new rules to handle the irregular arrivals of asylum seekers and migrants.
But it could be the end of 2025 before it takes effect in full.
Germany's migration commissioner proposes Rwanda migrant deportation plan
Reuters
Wed 4 September 2024
Migrants queue at the arrival centre for asylum seekers at Reinickendorf district in Berlin
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's migration commissioner proposed deporting to Rwanda migrants who arrive illegally to the European Union through its borders with Belarus, as Berlin contemplates measures to restrict refugees arriving in the bloc.
The proposal comes amid rising pressure on Germany's ruling coalition government to restrict irregular migration following a fatal stabbing linked to Islamic State at a city festival last month that fuelled far-right opposition and criticism of Berlin's migration policies.
Joachim Stamp, Germany's Special Representative for Migration Agreements, said the EU could utilize existing asylum facilities in Rwanda, which were initially intended for Britain's 2022 plan to send unauthorized migrants to the East African nation. The British plan was scrapped by Keir Starmer's new government in July.
Under Stamp's proposal, the asylum procedures in Rwanda would be conducted under the supervision of the United Nations.
"We currently have no third country that has come forward, with the exception of Rwanda," Stamp said in a podcast by Table Media published on Thursday.
Stamp, a member of the junior coalition FDP party and whose position sits in Germany's Interior Ministry, said this model would specifically target refugees crossing the EU's eastern borders.
"My suggestion would be that we concentrate on this group. It's about 10,000 people a year," he said, dismissing broader proposals from the conservative opposition to apply such a model to all refugees.
He said Rwanda has publicly expressed its willingness to continue implementing this model.
In addition, Stamp suggested removing the so-called "connecting element" in the new Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which currently requires external asylum procedures to be conducted in countries where the asylum seeker has a social connection.
The European Union agreed in December on new rules to handle irregular arrivals of asylum seekers and migrants, a deal hailed as a breakthrough after almost a decade of bitter feuds on the issue. It could take until the end of 2025 for the pact to take full effect.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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