BERLIN — Germany’s new center-right coalition government has approved a controversial bill aimed at tightening the country’s immigration laws, marking a swift shift in policy just weeks after taking office.
The proposed legislation, which still requires approval by the German parliament, introduces significant restrictions on family reunification rights for refugees with subsidiary protection status — individuals not officially granted asylum but permitted to remain due to threats such as political persecution, torture, or the death penalty in their home countries. Many civil war refugees fall into this category.
Under the draft bill, these refugees — numbering approximately 388,074 as of March — will be barred from bringing close family members, including spouses and minor children, to Germany for the next two years. Exceptions will be made in hardship cases, though the law does not clearly define what qualifies as such.
The move reinstates a policy previously enforced between 2016 and 2018 by the then-ruling coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), aimed at reducing strain on the asylum and integration systems.
The bill also proposes ending the expedited naturalization process for immigrants considered particularly well-integrated. However, a citizenship law reform passed by the previous government will remain in place. This includes reducing the naturalization period from eight to five years and preserving the right to dual citizenship, as stipulated in the current coalition agreement between the CDU, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the SPD.
In a parallel crackdown, the government, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, has launched new measures to reduce irregular migration. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced enhanced border controls and new procedures to turn back asylum seekers and undocumented migrants at Germany’s borders.
Dobrindt also formally revoked a 2015 directive issued under former Chancellor Angela Merkel, which had allowed undocumented migrants to enter Germany on humanitarian grounds and apply for asylum.
The Merz government argues that the majority of asylum seekers arriving in Germany are doing so in violation of EU regulations, which require individuals to apply for asylum in the first EU country they enter — often Greece or Italy — rather than traveling onward to Germany.
With asylum applications peaking at 352,000 in 2023 and only declining modestly to 250,000 last year, the government is seeking to overhaul the asylum system. Planned reforms include faster application processing, increased deportations of rejected asylum seekers, and stricter measures against violent offenders.
Additionally, the government is pursuing bilateral agreements with key transit and origin countries to expedite the repatriation process for those denied asylum.
The legislative and policy overhaul underscores the new coalition’s commitment to stricter immigration control and a recalibration of Germany’s refugee policy in line with conservative priorities.
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