Greens sharply criticize Schuster's push for detention on departure

The proposal by Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) for a possible detention order or "forced departure" for foreigners who are required to leave the country has been met with harsh criticism from the Greens in the state parliament. "What Interior Minister Schuster is calling for here sounds like something copied from an AfD election manifesto," said parliamentary group leader Franziska Schubert. She accused the minister of "questionable fishing on the fringes of the right".

In an interview with the German Press Agency, Schuster suggested increasing the pressure on foreigners who are obliged to leave the country if they do not cooperate with the authorities. "Civil law provides for detention for this purpose. This instrument would also be the right one for certain foreigners who are obliged to leave the country and who stubbornly refuse to comply with a request from the authorities," he said.

In principle, such a measure could also be called "forced departure detention". Schuster suggested a period of up to six months. "That is a harsh proposal, I admit that, but these people are dancing around on our noses," said the minister.

"This is the language and thinking of the right"

Schubert criticized the minister's choice of words and the core of the proposal. "People who are allegedly 'dancing around on our noses' should be locked up - that is the language and thinking of the right, not of a democratic constitutional state," she explained. There are "clear rules under European and constitutional law as to when and under what conditions people may be taken into custody pending deportation". These rules exist "not as a joke, but to protect human dignity and freedom".

Schuster's proposal to amend the European Convention on Human Rights was also rejected by Schubert. "It is sheer nonsense to claim that a Saxon Minister of the Interior can override EU law or the European Convention on Human Rights," she explained.

Schuster had spoken out in favor of amending the European Convention on Human Rights. This is because it is practically accompanied by an absolute ban on deportation. "We now have court rulings that make it impossible for me to deport people to some European countries - for example to Belgium - because the asylum accommodation there is allegedly not reasonable," said the minister.