Schuster: Departure center should increase deportation rate

Saxony wants to increase the success rate of deportations with a deportation center. Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) announced that the facility will centrally house people who are required to leave the country and whose deportation is foreseeable. A residence requirement is to apply to those affected, meaning that they are generally obliged to stay there.

In their coalition agreement, the CDU and SPD agreed to test the departure center. "With the pilot project, we are testing how we can noticeably reduce the burden on local authorities when returning people and how we can further increase the success rate of deportations," explained Schuster.

Exit center to be set up in refugee accommodation

Where the exit center will be located is still unclear. Schuster only mentioned that it would be set up in a refugee accommodation facility run by the Free State of Bavaria.

Residency requirements are regulated in the Residence Act. It states: "A foreigner who is required to leave the country and whose livelihood is not secured is obliged to take up normal residence in a specific place (residence requirement)."

The Refugee Council has repeatedly criticized the fact that the Saxon authorities have applied this instrument very restrictively in the past. This had made it more difficult for asylum seekers to accept work.

Number of deportations so far higher than 2023

In the first three quarters of this year, 726 people were deported from Saxony. According to the state directorate, the number was higher than in the same period last year. At that time, 636 deportations were counted. 209 of those deported in the first nine months of the year were convicted criminals.

In addition, 726 foreigners had left the country voluntarily by the end of September - according to the state directorate, mainly Turkish, Georgian, Venezuelan and North Macedonian nationals.