Saxon Refugee Council criticizes deportation of families

The Saxon Refugee Council criticizes the deportation of families from the Free State. According to the Refugee Council, 40 percent of the people deported in the first half of the year had lived here as families. "Deporting more and more families, some of whom have lived in Saxony for years, is neither ethically justifiable nor understandable for the population," explained the association's spokesperson Dave Schmidtke. A total of 173 women, men and children were affected.

"The protection of the family is enshrined in Article 6 of the Basic Law, but anyone who has children and parents taken away by the police and put on a plane is clearly accepting their traumatization," Schmidtke emphasized. Most deportations from Saxony were to Georgia (78), North Macedonia (58), Tunisia (58) and Turkey (36). There is hardly any talk about abuses in these countries in Saxony. There were also 18 deportations to Venezuela.

In addition to the suffering caused to those affected, deportations are extremely costly and time-consuming, as they require the resources of Saxon and federal authorities for months on end, is another argument put forward by the Refugee Council. Other instruments such as voluntary departure make far more sense. "At least 486 people in Saxony opted for this in the first half of 2024 - significantly more people than could be deported."

"If deportations for individuals cost over 100,000 euros, their intention must be fundamentally questioned. It is obvious that such exorbitant sums could have been used to organize integration offers for many times more people," Schmidtke criticized the current practice. The Saxon Refugee Council rejects the current inhumane deportation practice and calls for a stronger focus on local integration measures and prospects for the right to stay.