Refugee Council again criticizes deportation of a man

The Refugee Council has once again criticized the actions of the Saxon authorities in the deportation of a foreigner. A Moroccan had been deported on July 11, although the Chemnitz Administrative Court had ruled in an urgent decision that the deportation had to be suspended. The court's decision was disregarded, the Refugee Council announced.

In telephone conversations with the lawyer of the person concerned, officials at the city of Chemnitz and the Saxony state directorate stated that they did not feel bound by the decision. They had also not passed it on to the federal police, who had therefore continued the deportation.

The spokesperson for the city of Chemnitz, Matthias Nowak, stated on request that the immigration authority of the city of Chemnitz was not responsible for the deportation. "This and nothing else was communicated to the court and the man's lawyer. The state directorate is responsible for such deportations."

The state directorate stated that it had learned of the court order during the ongoing deportation. However, the decision was directed against the foreigners authority of the city of Chemnitz; the state directorate was not involved in the court proceedings at any time. "For this reason, a decision was made in the short time available against stopping the ongoing repatriation," said spokeswoman Valerie Eckl.

The state directorate is currently evaluating the case internally and is also examining the possibility of allowing the Moroccan to re-enter the country temporarily. The man had claimed to the Chemnitz Immigration Office that he should be granted a right of residence for family reasons. This procedure is ongoing. According to the Refugee Council, the man is married to a German citizen and has children with her.

At the beginning of this week, there was controversy surrounding the planned deportation of another man from Saxony to Serbia. Politicians from several parties had criticized the procedure. The Minister of the Interior had temporarily suspended the deportation. Now the hardship commission is to deal with the case of the 31-year-old.