On the European wall – Ralf Neukirch, Anna Reimann, Katrin Elger, Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt, Christoph Schult and Sara Sievert in Der Spiegel:

‘The fact that a leading local politician with the Greens, a traditionally left-leaning party, is calling for migration to his district to be limited shows the extent to which the situation has become overloaded. Across the country, district administrators and mayors are complaining that the numbers of refugees are exceeding their capacities. And the situation is getting worse. According to the German Interior Ministry, there has been an especially "elevated and dynamic influx of arrivals" since September.
In the past year, more asylum-seekers arrived in Germany than at any time in the past six years, since the peak of the refugee crisis. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), 217,774 people filed initial applications for asylum in Germany in 2022, more than twice as many as in 2020, and that's without counting the more than 1 million refugees who have come from Ukraine.’

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‘The far-right Alternative for Germany party (AFD) is up to 15 percent in national opinion polls, more than 4 percentage points higher than they were in the last federal election. The party can expect considerable gains in the state election in Berlin in a week. This is one reason why the debate has thus far been restrained. The parties of the federal government coalition in Germany – the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) – want to avoid a new national debate about refugees, because that could strengthen the AFD.’

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‘The German government has set itself the goal of "ensuring that other EU states assume more responsibility and comply with EU law." To that end, the coalition wants encourage other EU member countries to take in more refugees. But Berlin is pretty much isolated in that stance right now. "Apart from Luxembourg and Portugal, no one else in the EU shares the German approach," say several EU diplomats.
The mood among the 27 member states has changed in recent years. It's not just Eastern Europeans who are pushing for the deterrence and exclusion of migrants. Right-wing populist parties are now setting the tone in Italy, where the post-fascist Brothers of Italy are in power, and in Sweden, where the xenophobic Sweden Democrats are propping up the government.
The summit will therefore focus on how to more speedily deport people who don't have a right to residency status in the EU. The Swedish rotating presidency of the European Council has stated that this is one of its most important goals in the migration debate. On this issue, it is easier to reach an agreement, at least superficially, because the problem is obvious.’

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‘The deportations don't just fail because of resistance on the part of migrants. Often, the countries of origin are unwilling to take their citizens back. In a letter to the heads of state and government in advance of the summit, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote that migration "should take a central position in a comprehensive concept for the EU's relationships with its partner countries." But the views about how that should happen differ.’

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‘The paper argues that Article 25a of the Visa Code could be "one of the most important instruments for improving the collaboration with third countries on the issue of returns and readmissions." It argues that this could, for example, involve extending the deadline for processing visa applications from certain countries or adding fees to increase the pressure on unwilling countries. The states with which cooperation has been difficult include Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.
Critics object that adding much more pressure would strain relationships with countries with whom a partnership is desired for political reasons. The Commission, however, argues that even just threatening to sharpen visa rules could affect change.
Von der Leyen's proposals go further. She's calling for countries to mutually recognize deportation orders. Anyone who has received an order to leave Poland could then also be deported from Germany. It's unclear if this is legally possible. German courts have ruled that even deportations to Greece can be illegal.’

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‘In advance of his appointment, Stamp said that he has no "license" to deport. And even if he did have it, the legal hurdles would be high. At the moment, Germany cannot deport people to Syria or Afghanistan. Half of all asylum-seekers come from there.
Germany's states are responsible for the deportation procedures. But they don't always have the will to carry them out. In December, the coalition government in the city-state of Berlin, which is comprised of the SPD, Green and far-left Left parties, had a bitter dispute about what to do about rejected asylum-seekers from Moldova. The SPD's plans called for about 600 of the 3,400 Moldovans meant to be deported to be brought back to their homeland.’

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‘As Germany discusses deportations, the debate in the EU continues to swirl. Austria has called on the Commission to finance the construction of fences on the EU's external border. According to diplomats, a majority of the member states support this suggestion.
The Commission has thus far been rejecting this. Commissioner of the Interior Ylva Johansson said that the money for the fence would create financial gaps elsewhere. But that rejection doesn't sound as categorical as it had been a year ago.’

Read the article here.

2020 was a Covid year, it’s not very fair to compare the influx of 2022 with 2020.

Most civil servants I spoke to in the Netherlands agree that forced deportation of illegal immigrants is ineffective.

The wall, Poland built already one, might change some of the routes being used by refugees, it won’t alter the overall picture, it’s more symbolic than anything else. Poland built a wall on the border with Belarus, that was immoral I would say, but effective, but Europe is much bigger than Poland. I mean Europe is not Gaza. And even there, smuggling is happening all the time.

The EU is trying to limit the growth of the extreme right, that’s what this is about.