The number of deportations ordered against foreigners living in Germany has stabilized at a high level and is increasing. This is evident from a response from the federal government to a query from the Left Party group, which was made available to the German Press Agency.
According to the report, 4,321 people were deported in the first half of this year. Most of them came from Albania, Georgia, Turkey, Moldova and Algeria. In 2023 as a whole, there were 8,019 deportations. Between 2020 and 2022, the number fluctuated between 7,081 and 8,257 deportations per year.
Not everyone who is expelled is deported
A foreigner will be deported if his or her stay endangers public safety and order, the free democratic basic order or other significant interests of the Federal Republic of Germany. However, each individual case must be assessed. Factors such as how long the person concerned has lived in Germany and whether he or she has German family members play a role.
Not everyone who is deported is immediately deported. People who cannot be deported for practical or legal reasons are granted a temporary suspension of deportation.
Not only convicted criminals are deported
It is not necessary for someone to have been convicted of a crime in order to be expelled. For example, it is sufficient that someone “approves of or promotes crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes or terrorist acts of comparable gravity”.
A draft from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which has not yet been adopted by the Bundestag, provides for further tightening of the rules.
Left-wing politician Clara Bünger takes a critical view of this. She says: “The law on deportation has been tightened several times in recent years.” Nowadays, even relatively minor offenses can lead to deportation. There is no evidence that the tightening of the law has helped prevent crimes.
In its inquiry, Die Linke writes that this represents a “deep infringement on freedom of expression”. Expulsions are an “illegal disciplinary and exclusionary technique aimed at subjecting people without German citizenship to special controls”.
In the middle of the year, around 35,000 deportees were in Germany
According to the Federal Government, as of June 30, almost 330,000 people with a deportation order were recorded in the Central Register of Foreigners. However, only a small proportion of them – around 35,000 – were in Germany at the time. The others who were deported had either left the country or been deported.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240922-930-239464/1
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