The expulsion of migrants under the Dublin Agreement was suspended in late March due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Germany will return refugees and migrants to other European Union States in accordance with the Dublin Agreement. This was confirmed by the German Interior Ministry on Tuesday, 16 June, in response to a request from dpa.
The Dublin Regulation stipulates that migrants must apply for asylum in the country where they first crossed the EU border. The German authorities are therefore entitled to expel them to the States concerned to comply with this provision.
“In accordance with the abolition of restrictions on cross-border travel, as well as warnings on travel to the EU, movement for the transfer of certain persons also resumes”, – emphasizes in a statement of the German Interior Ministry. This process was suspended on March 23 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The resumption of the procedure is taking place in stages.
The procedure is being resumed in stages. The first stage concerns the extradition of refugees to the neighbouring States of Germany and their transportation by road. Then, to more distant countries that are parties to the Dublin Agreement, by air and “mainly by charter flights”.
The necessary preventive measures were taken to avoid the spread of coronavirus infection. Those who show symptoms of infection or have laboratory evidence of the disease can stay in Germany until they are fully recovered.
The influx of refugees into the European Union – after a marked decline in April caused by the coronavirus – increased again sharply in May. Last month, the European Border Guard Service Frontex recorded almost 4300 cases of unauthorized crossing of EU borders on major migration routes – almost three times more than in April, reported July 14 edition of the group Funke citing statistics.