(de-news.net) – The Bundestag’s Interior Committee has formally adopted two draft regulations designed to implement the European Union’s recently enacted asylum reform, signaling a decisive step toward aligning national law with the EU’s standards. Among the measures, one provision explicitly permits residents of initial reception facilities to enter the labor market earlier than previously permitted, reflecting a broader effort to facilitate integration while respecting procedural safeguards. Participants in the committee reported that a majority also supported a resolution introduced by the Union and SPD, which urged the federal government to coordinate with the individual states to ensure that children and adolescents could access educational institutions within two months of submitting their asylum applications, regardless of the stage of the legal process. This provision is intended to mitigate interruptions in educational continuity for minors and reduce the social costs associated with delayed school enrollment.
The reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), formally approved at the EU level in May 2024, requires member states to complete national implementation by June of this year. The Bundestag scheduled its final debate and vote on the legislation for Friday, reflecting the urgency of meeting the EU-imposed timeline. Lawmakers framed this legislative process as critical for ensuring compliance with European norms while addressing national administrative challenges, including the efficient processing of asylum applications and the coordination between federal and state authorities.
Deportation data highlight concentration on nationalities
According to the Federal Government’s response to a parliamentary inquiry submitted by the Left Party, approximately 8,000 foreign nationals lost their legal right to remain in Germany in 2025, with a disproportionate number originating from Georgia, Albania, and Turkey. Of the 8,232 individuals recorded in the Central Register of Foreign Nationals as affected by expulsion orders, the majority were men, with 671 from Georgia, 661 from Albania, and 618 from Turkey. In comparison, the previous year, under the former coalition administration, the total number of expulsion orders had been slightly higher at 9,277, similarly concentrated among nationals of Albania, Georgia, and Turkey. Expulsion orders terminate lawful residence and impose a formal obligation to leave the country, although the government noted that reliable figures on how many of these orders led to actual deportations were not readily available. The data underscore the scale of administrative enforcement while highlighting the limitations in tracking operational outcomes, including compliance and voluntary departures.
Clara Bünger, representing the Left Party, highlighted that legislative tightening over recent years had expanded the grounds for expulsion, making minor infractions sufficient to trigger removal from the country. She characterized these measures as significant intrusions on fundamental rights. Moreover, Bünger stressed the particularly sensitive issue of minors affected by expulsions, noting that in 2025, forty-three individuals under eighteen were subject to expulsion, twenty-four of whom were younger than fourteen. The inclusion of children in expulsion proceedings raised profound ethical and legal concerns, emphasizing the tension between enforcement and the protection of vulnerable populations.
North Rhine-Westphalia proposes aligning asylum benefits with EU standards
In a related development, Hendrik Wüst, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia and member of the CDU, has proposed adjusting social benefits for asylum seekers to align more closely with European Union standards. Wüst framed the initiative as part of a broader effort to concentrate limited social resources on individuals genuinely entitled to protection, while simultaneously maintaining rigorous asylum administration to prevent misuse of the system. In this context, the state introduced a prepaid card system to limit direct cash transfers and reduce incentives for social benefit abuse. The proposal followed public attention to a high-profile case involving a Bosnian asylum applicant whose claim had been rejected in 2003 but who remained in Germany with eight children despite multiple offenses. Wüst presented this situation as indicative of structural weaknesses in German asylum law, underscoring the need for the prompt repatriation of individuals without legal entitlement to remain in the country in order to prevent prolonged dependency on social welfare systems.
