Saxony opens secondary migration center in Dresden – criticism from Refugee Council and Mission Lifeline

State Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) said in Dresden that Saxony wanted to implement the new Common European Asylum System as quickly as possible. "Der erste Schritt der Migrationswende ist durch die Grenzkontrollen und eine drastische Eindämmung der irregulären Migration erfolgreich gelungen", Schuster stated. The center had been put "sofort in Funktion" in order to achieve noticeable relief as quickly as possible. With a second step, the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers obliged to leave the country was to be carried out "noch einmal deutlich intensiver".

Schuster's announcement: faster repatriations

The Common European Asylum System has been in force since mid-June. The goals are faster asylum procedures, more solidarity between EU countries, and, going forward, deportation centers in third countries. "Hinter dem sperrigen Namen Sekundärmigrationszentrum steckt ein klares Prinzip: Wer bereits in einem anderen EU-Staat Asyl beantragt hat, muss dorthin zurück", according to the State Directorate.

According to its information, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) advises those affected, including on options for voluntary departure. The President of the State Directorate of Saxony is Bela Belafi. According to the State Directorate, the 400 places exceed the capacity of the previous State Departure Center.

Criticism from the Refugee Council and Mission Lifeline

The Saxon Refugee Council and the Dresden aid organization Mission Lifeline expressed sharp criticism to MDR. They spoke of an "Abschiebegefängnis" and accused the Free State of restricting human rights in favor of faster procedures. The conditions were similar to detention, and aid organizations were being denied access. The Refugee Council is instead calling for decentralized accommodations that would better guarantee the right to privacy, freedom of movement, and health and education.

According to information from Deutschlandfunk, the Saxon Ministry of the Interior had not yet issued a statement on the criticism at the time of reporting. The State Directorate itself was also unavailable for a response on the cutoff date.

The assessment of the aid organizations contrasts with the portrayal of the state authorities, which describe the accommodation as expanded beyond the previous State Departure Center with 400 places and equipped with advisory, educational, and leisure offerings. The actual occupancy at the time of opening was still low: According to Deutschlandfunk, "ist dort noch niemand nach den neuen Regelungen untergebracht".

CEAS as the framework of Saxon asylum policy

The opening of the Dresden center is part of the state's implementation of CEAS. On the basis of the tightened EU asylum rules, federal states can create such facilities as a component of their asylum procedures. According to Schuster's words, Saxony had set itself the goal of accelerating procedures and relieving municipal distribution with a central point of contact for secondary migration.

The reporting on the facility falls in a phase in which the Saxon state government has marked the limitation of irregular migration and the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers as political priorities. At the same time, the humanitarian and legal assessment of the accommodation conditions remains disputed. The further operation and occupancy development of the secondary migration center are therefore likely to remain in focus both politically and legally.