The German policy of refusing asylum seekers at the border is unlawful, according to the court. The German government began this last month as part of a stricter migration policy.
Three Somalis filed a lawsuit against the German state because of the new policy. It concerns two men and a woman who fled from Poland to Germany by train.
The three were checked by the police at the Frankfurt train station at the beginning of May. After submitting an asylum application, the Somalis were sent back to Poland that same day.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced at the beginning of May that asylum seekers may be refused at the border because neighboring countries are safe countries. They could therefore have applied for asylum there, the government reasoned. Germany would only make an exception for “vulnerable people,” such as pregnant women and children.
But the German court calls that policy “unlawful.” According to the court, the government must adhere to the so-called Dublin Regulation. This means that Germany must first determine which country is responsible for the asylum application before asylum seekers may be expelled.
Often that is the first country where an asylum seeker entered the Schengen zone. So that is not always directly the neighboring country from which someone crosses the border.