German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees issues internal instructions suspending Dublin procedures for Syrians
The Asylum Information Database (AIDA) (a project of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles) reported yesterday that Germany has suspended deporting asylum seekers from Syria under the Dublin Regulation.
The EU's Dublin Regulation (No 604/2013) determines which EU Member State is responsible for examining an asylum application and allows deportation if an asylum seeker tries to apply in another Member State.
According to AIDA, the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) issued internal instructions on 21 August 2015 suspending Dublin Regulation procedures in respect of Syrian nationals.
The Telegraph reported that an official German source confirmed the suspension.
AIDA says that Dublin procedures already initiated in relation to Syrians are to be cancelled, and newly applying Syrian asylum seekers will be channelled into the regular asylum procedure and will not be given the usual Dublin questionnaires.
According to the Telegraph, Germany has long complained that the Dublin system is failing and that the rules are abused by other Member States to avoid taking asylum seekers.
The Telegraph noted that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande held emergency talks in Berlin yesterday on the refugee and migrant crisis facing Europe and called for an overhaul of the EU's asylum system.
According to the Guardian, Germany and France are to draft common proposals on immigration and security to deal with the increasing numbers of refugees entering the EU, and Merkel said they could include building new registration centres in Greece and Italy to be run and staffed by the EU as a whole by the end of the year.
"Time is running out. EU member states must share costs relating to this action," Merkel was quoted as saying.
Germany is said to be increasingly determined to push for a new system of mandatory quotas for refugees across the EU as it faces receiving a disproportionate 800,000 asylum seekers this year.