German Chancellor Friedrich Merz insists on his policy of turning on the border of asylum seekers in Germany. Yesterday, an administrative court in Berlin found this to be illegal in a peculiar case.
Smaller ‘field of manoeuvre’
The Berlin court’s decision, as Merz acknowledged, ‘restricts the scope of manoeuvre’. But there's inactive area for manoeuvre. We know that we can inactive turn around (immigrants)," said the Chancellor present (03.06.2025) at the legislature of the German Union of Cities and Municipalities in Berlin. "Of course, we will do so under existing European law. We will besides do this to defend the safety and public order in our country and prevent the overload of cities and municipalities," he added.
Merz stressed that his government would carry out this task and pointed out that until the situation at the EU's external borders has improved importantly through the fresh common European rules, "we will gotta keep controls at interior borders."
Controversial return of migrants
On 7 May, German Minister of Interior Alexander Dobrindt ordered increased border controls. At the same time, asylum seekers are to be returned at the border – but for children and pregnant women.
However, on Monday, June 2, an administrative court in Berlin ruled urgently that the return of 3 Somalis during border control at Frankfurt Oder station was illegal. Without any explanation as to which EU country is liable for their asylum application, they should not be returned.
In this peculiar case, 2 men and a female in Somalia were sent back to Poland.
