Laws against migration | Dobrindt: "End family reunification"

Three weeks after the start of the coalition government, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) presented the first draft laws to the cabinet on Wednesday to limit migration to Germany and to naturalize German citizens. These would suspend family reunification for refugees without asylum status and abolish accelerated naturalization after just three years of residence in Germany. Dobrindt announced this over the weekend. The CDU/CSU and SPD had agreed on both changes in their coalition negotiations.

The suspension of family reunification affects people who are denied asylum or refugee protection in Germany but are nevertheless allowed to stay here because they face political persecution, torture, or the death penalty in their home countries. They will not be allowed to bring family members to Germany for two years. Hardship cases are excluded.

"Previously, 1,000 people per month could be brought to Germany. That's over now," Dobrindt told Bild. "We must significantly reduce the pull factors to Germany. This, too, demonstrates that migration policy in Germany has changed."

Family reunification for refugees without asylum status had already been suspended by the then-Christian Democratic Union (CDU)-Social Democratic Party (SPD) coalition from March 2016 to July 2018. The reason given at the time was to avoid an overload in the reception and integration process. Since August 2018, 1,000 people per month have been allowed to enter Germany as relatives of people with this protection status. However, due to the high bureaucratic hurdles, far fewer people were able to do so.

Green politician calls plans "immoral"

The 2021 coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP actually stipulated that family reunification would again be possible without restrictions for people from this group. However, this plan was not implemented. More than 30 non-governmental organizations have appealed to the federal government to abandon its plans to restrict family reunification for refugees and instead expand it.

The Green Party also voiced sharp criticism. "The new federal government is relying on symbolic politics at the expense of the weakest and is not shying away from blatant violations of the law," Green Party interior policy expert Schahina Gambir told dpa. The suspension of family reunification constitutes a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. "This policy is immoral; it is driving a wedge into social cohesion."

Union speaks of “turbo naturalizations”

Another bill, which is expected to be passed on Wednesday, proposes the abolition of the accelerated naturalization process introduced by the traffic light coalition government after three years for particularly well-integrated immigrants. The CDU/CSU is calling it "turbo naturalization," which will no longer be possible in the future. The goal is to "strengthen the importance of legally completed residence in Germany as a central and essential prerequisite for naturalization," according to the draft bill, which was first reported by "Die Zeit." It has already been sent to the states, which have until Monday to comment. Dobrindt's goal is to get the bill passed by the Bundestag and Bundesrat before the start of the summer recess on July 11.

This reverses one point of the citizenship law reform passed by the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP. However, according to the coalition agreement, the CDU, CSU, and SPD intend to maintain the reduction of the waiting period for normal naturalization from eight to five years and the permit for dual citizenship, which had also been passed by the traffic light coalition. dpa/nd