Schuster wants preventive detention for foreigners obliged to leave the country

Saxon Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) wants to increase 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 an interview with the German Press Agency. Basically, such a measure could also be called "forced departure detention". Schuster proposes a period of up to six months.

Schuster: Certain people are dancing around on our noses

Custodial detention is a legal means of coercion to make citizens comply with legal obligations. "This is a harsh proposal, I admit that, but these people are dancing around on our noses," said Schuster. It is difficult to understand why detention is used in civil law, but not for foreigners who are obliged to leave the country and who have no right to stay after all instances have been decided.

"The question is: how do we deal with people in our domestic system who are opposed to administrative processes and court decisions and simply refuse to comply," he emphasized. So far, this has not had sufficient consequences for the people concerned.

Minister in favor of amending the Human Rights Convention

At the same time, Schuster spoke out in favor of amending the European Convention on Human Rights. This would practically mean an absolute ban on deportation. "That's a stylistic flourish. We now have court rulings that make it impossible for me to deport people to some European countries - to Belgium, for example - because the asylum accommodation there is supposedly not reasonable," said the Minister. Even the most serious criminals and suspected terrorists are therefore not allowed to be deported to third countries. "That's grotesque."

The security interests of locals must take priority

According to Schuster, this cannot be explained to the local population. "For me, the security interests of our people carry more weight than the interests of an individual who has committed the most serious crimes here." He is pleased that Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) is doing his job in such a way that everything that has only been discussed for years is finally being done.

Schuster wants a turbo boost for the return of rejected asylum seekers

"We now need a turbo boost for the return of rejected asylum seekers and that is why Saxony is also ready for a federal exit center at Leipzig-Halle Airport. We have a suitable terminal there," concluded Schuster.