Court tilts deportation: Germany violates EU law in asylum cases

Court tilts deportation: Germany violates EU law in asylum cases

Frankfurt an der Oder, Deutschland - A Berlin court has decided that Germany violated EU law when three Somali nationals deployed to Poland on the border. This judgment, published on June 2, 2025, represents a significant precedent in current migration policy. The Somali asylum seekers, including two men and a woman, were rejected by the border police at the train station in Frankfurt an der Oder. The court found that the decisions of the German authorities based on the assumption that the asylum seekers were unlawful from a "safe third country", since Germany is obliged to process asylum applications. The judgment raises new questions about the Practices and Guidelines of the Federal Government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who pursues an aggressive migration policy that recently culminated in a new guideline.

The court decided that the deportation violated the Dublin Ordinance. This regulation regulates which Member State is responsible for examining an asylum application and applies to all EU countries as well as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. According to the Dublin III Ordinance, which has been in force since 2003, every asylum application in the Member State in which the applicant has been registered for the first time must be checked. In this specific matter it was found that Germany did not comply with this, which led to the determination that the rejection of the applications was legally invalid. The procedure also stipulates that if the transfer does not conclude on time, responsibility passes to Germany, which is relevant in this case.

criticism of asylum policy

The decision was taken up by supporters and critics of asylum policy. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt defended the federal government's measures and said that the asylum system had failed. Opposition politicians, like Irene Mihalic from the Greens, described the judgment as a "severe defeat" for the Merz government. Karl Kopp of Pro Asylica criticized the deportation as an "illegal practice of national unilateral measures" and called for the return of the Somalis to Germany.

Practice to dismiss asylum seekers at the German borders is also in the context of reformed asylum legislation in Europe. In May 2025, the European Commission presented a mechanism that would enable Member States to reject asylum seekers who have traveled through a "safe" third country. However, critics point out that countries such as Hungary and Poland often refuse to accept asylum seekers and thereby undermine the Dublin Ordinance by leaving those seeking protection behind under precarious conditions.

The background of the Dublin Ordinance

The Dublin Ordinance is a central element of the European asylum system, which aims to contain secondary migrations within the EU. This regulation obliges countries that ask for asylum to make a decision on responsibility within six months. The challenge is that many Member States, especially with regard to the increasing number of refugees, have difficulty fulfilling these obligations. In addition, doubts about social standards in other EU countries can also lead to the Dublin Ordinance being suspended, since many refugees report violence and poor conditions in countries such as Italy, Greece or Poland.

The situation is also complicated by the reform of the common European asylum system, which was decided in April 2024. This reform provides mandatory border methods that are to be carried out under detention conditions, which leads to considering compliance with human rights standards. The new pact for migration and asylum, which is described, could potentially help to lower the legal standards and to outsource asylum procedures in third countries. Such a development could further deteriorate the conditions for asylum seekers in Europe, while the court ruling in Germany signals a possible turning point in this discussion.

The legal implications of this judgment and the reactions to it are directional for future migration policy not only in Germany, but also in Europe in general. In view of the challenges in front of which the governments are facing, this judgment could have a significant impact on the political discussion about asylum and migration in the coming year