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Asylum in Germany
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Asylum in Germany
The right of asylum for victims of political persecution is a basic right stipulated in the Constitution of Germany. In a wider sense, the right of asylum recognises the definition of 'refugee' as established in the 1951 Refugee Convention and is understood to protect asylum seekers from deportation and grant them certain protections under the law. Generally, these protections are a part of the asylum procedure itself and are verified by the Federal Office For Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, 'BAMF') without any further application.
In 1993 and 2015, the initially unlimited right of asylum was revised in essential points and also limited. In light of the refugee crisis in the second half of 2015, a transformation of the fundamental right of asylum (section 16a GG) into an objective guarantee was demanded in order to give the state the legal opportunity to impose an upper limit or quota.
The German residence act (Aufenthaltsgesetz) only regulates refugee status. Neither the residence act nor the asylum law (Asylgesetz) defines the concept of asylum. Its content and limitations are primarily a result of the court ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court concerning Section 16a GG in the German Basic Law. In accordance with Section 16a (1) GG, a person is considered to be experiencing political persecution if he or she is suffering from infringements of his or her rights by the state or third person measures that can be attributed to the state, because of religious or political convictions or other inaccessible features that mark the individual's otherness. These infringements of the personal rights violate human dignity and, depending on their intensity and severity, exclude the individual person from the state's general keeping of the peace and put him or her in a desperate situation.
More commonly, politically persecuted people are granted protection based on the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (also known as 1951 Refugee Convention). Although the Refugee Convention has been valid in Germany since 24 December 1953, the German legislature often did not consider it necessary to grant refugees full refugee status. Instead, it simply granted them a recognition of asylum. This procedure only changed with the Qualification Directive (2011/95/EU) and a law that was passed along with it in August 2007. Today, official refugee status is conferred on refugees, in addition to the status of being entitled to political asylum when necessary (Section 3 (1) and (4) Asylum Procedure Act). Now, refugee status is equal to the status of a 'person entitled to political asylum' (Asylberechtiger), in regard to the right of residence. Furthermore, admitted refugees have no disadvantages compared to people entitled to political asylum concerning social benefits, participation in the employment market and the granting of travel documents. For more information concerning the definition of refugees in Germany see the German article on Flüchtlingseigenschaft.
The asylum law regulates the administrative proceedings that grant the asylum seeker the status of a person entitled to political asylum. During the asylum proceedings the asylum seeker receives temporary permission to stay.
Refugees under the age of 18 who have been separated from their parents or are traveling alone (unaccompanied minors) are afforded extra protection under international law (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) and EU law. Germany considers such people "children first and refugees second" and gives them access to youth housing, German lessons and education.
Following World War II, Germany's parliamentary Council adopted the Federal Republic of Germany's Basic Law in 1949, which states that 'persons persecuted on political grounds shall enjoy the right of asylum.' The provision, though simple in language, offered foreign people protection against being denied entry at the border, as well as safety from extradition and expulsion. Those who were recognized by this political persecution would receive similar rights as West Germans with regard to family, social, and labor laws.
Following this law was the Asylum Ordinance in 1953, as the following Basic Laws were not considered procedural rules by the German governing body. The ordinance did not contain any specific provisions regarding asylum-seekers, rather it gave Germany's immigration police a large discretion over granting individuals asylum. Following the ordinance, any stateless persons in 1953 would be granted asylum in Germany, so long as such a person was 'not seen as an enemy of Germany's new constitutional order, didn't threaten the Federal Republic's foreign policy interests, and didn't compromise the West German executive's political views on the demographic structure.' This posed many problems, the lack of provisions allowed for more asylum seekers than anticipated to be housed in Germany.
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Asylum in Germany
The right of asylum for victims of political persecution is a basic right stipulated in the Constitution of Germany. In a wider sense, the right of asylum recognises the definition of 'refugee' as established in the 1951 Refugee Convention and is understood to protect asylum seekers from deportation and grant them certain protections under the law. Generally, these protections are a part of the asylum procedure itself and are verified by the Federal Office For Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, 'BAMF') without any further application.
In 1993 and 2015, the initially unlimited right of asylum was revised in essential points and also limited. In light of the refugee crisis in the second half of 2015, a transformation of the fundamental right of asylum (section 16a GG) into an objective guarantee was demanded in order to give the state the legal opportunity to impose an upper limit or quota.
The German residence act (Aufenthaltsgesetz) only regulates refugee status. Neither the residence act nor the asylum law (Asylgesetz) defines the concept of asylum. Its content and limitations are primarily a result of the court ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court concerning Section 16a GG in the German Basic Law. In accordance with Section 16a (1) GG, a person is considered to be experiencing political persecution if he or she is suffering from infringements of his or her rights by the state or third person measures that can be attributed to the state, because of religious or political convictions or other inaccessible features that mark the individual's otherness. These infringements of the personal rights violate human dignity and, depending on their intensity and severity, exclude the individual person from the state's general keeping of the peace and put him or her in a desperate situation.
More commonly, politically persecuted people are granted protection based on the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (also known as 1951 Refugee Convention). Although the Refugee Convention has been valid in Germany since 24 December 1953, the German legislature often did not consider it necessary to grant refugees full refugee status. Instead, it simply granted them a recognition of asylum. This procedure only changed with the Qualification Directive (2011/95/EU) and a law that was passed along with it in August 2007. Today, official refugee status is conferred on refugees, in addition to the status of being entitled to political asylum when necessary (Section 3 (1) and (4) Asylum Procedure Act). Now, refugee status is equal to the status of a 'person entitled to political asylum' (Asylberechtiger), in regard to the right of residence. Furthermore, admitted refugees have no disadvantages compared to people entitled to political asylum concerning social benefits, participation in the employment market and the granting of travel documents. For more information concerning the definition of refugees in Germany see the German article on Flüchtlingseigenschaft.
The asylum law regulates the administrative proceedings that grant the asylum seeker the status of a person entitled to political asylum. During the asylum proceedings the asylum seeker receives temporary permission to stay.
Refugees under the age of 18 who have been separated from their parents or are traveling alone (unaccompanied minors) are afforded extra protection under international law (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) and EU law. Germany considers such people "children first and refugees second" and gives them access to youth housing, German lessons and education.
Following World War II, Germany's parliamentary Council adopted the Federal Republic of Germany's Basic Law in 1949, which states that 'persons persecuted on political grounds shall enjoy the right of asylum.' The provision, though simple in language, offered foreign people protection against being denied entry at the border, as well as safety from extradition and expulsion. Those who were recognized by this political persecution would receive similar rights as West Germans with regard to family, social, and labor laws.
Following this law was the Asylum Ordinance in 1953, as the following Basic Laws were not considered procedural rules by the German governing body. The ordinance did not contain any specific provisions regarding asylum-seekers, rather it gave Germany's immigration police a large discretion over granting individuals asylum. Following the ordinance, any stateless persons in 1953 would be granted asylum in Germany, so long as such a person was 'not seen as an enemy of Germany's new constitutional order, didn't threaten the Federal Republic's foreign policy interests, and didn't compromise the West German executive's political views on the demographic structure.' This posed many problems, the lack of provisions allowed for more asylum seekers than anticipated to be housed in Germany.