Accompany
Detainees

Country Offices

 

JRS Germany - www.jesuiten-fluechtlingsdienst.de Political Developments   During 2010, the number of detainees housed in detention facilities in Germany continued to diminuish, with 690 detained in the Berlin Detention Centre (this compares with 1.564 in 2007). 300-400 persons in the correctional facility of Munich and 400-500 in the Eisenhüttenstadt detention centre (Brandenburg). Of those detained, roughly 30 % were released instead of a deportation. So-called Dublin II cases continued to form a large portion of people being detained, i.e. individuals who had come to Germany via another European Union member state, were subsequently arrested, usually at the airport, and ordered to return to their country of first entry on the basis that this member state was responsible for their asylum case. On July 15th, 2010, Germany notified to the United Nations the decision to withdraw its reservation to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. According to the reservation, the government had earlier insisted that the 1989 convention should not be applied to migrant children. This led, among others, to a duty for children aged 16 years or older to act for themselves in asylum and residence procedures, and to the possibility to detain them. However, so far the government has not responded to the call from several NGOs including JRS to change the respective laws in order to ensure their conformity with the Convention.

JRS Activities

Detention
 

JRS Germany continued to give pastoral service to detainees in Berlin, Eisenhüttenstadt (Brandenburg) and Munich (Bavaria). Presence in Munich could be extended to three afternoons per week, in Eisenhüttenstadt to two days per week. By the help of our legal aid funds, established in Berlin and Brandenburg in 2005 and in Bavaria in 2007, up to now 460 legal cases were assisted, of which more than two thirds had a successful outcome. The budget moves between 25.000 and 35.000 EUR per year.

A main concern during 2010, as in 2009, was the situation of refugees detained pending transfer under the so-called “Dublin II” system. As concerns rose that especially Greece was not able to grant a fair asylum procedure and minimum reception conditions to people in need of protection, JRS Germany together with other NGOs promoted test cases for temporary legal protection against transfers to Greece. This specific protection is excluded by German law in Dublin cases as a rule, but after the Constitutional Court found in autumn 2009 that exceptions may be necessary due to the principle of effective remedies. Subsequently, more and more administrative courts halted transfers to Greece, and in January 2011 the German government declared a one-year standstill on transfers. Meanwhile, an increasing number of courts has also halted transfers to other countries like Italy.

In summer 2010, JRS presented the German extract of the DEVAS study on detention conditions in Europe. This was met with widespread interest in the political, administrative and scientific field.

Advocacy
 

Advocacy activities in 2010/11 mainly focused on the implementation of the EU Returns Directive, the situation of undocumented migrants and our on-going engagement in the Berlin Hardship Case Commission.

Returns Directive

JRS Germany commented in detail on a draft amendment to the Residence Law presented by the federal Ministry of Interior in September 2010 to implement the Returns Directive in national law. Among our main concerns are that the draft still allows for the detention of minors and other vulnerable groups, and that detention in correctional facilities would still be possible.

We also joined the churches in a call to create a legal basis for forced returns monitoring projects. Such projects exist in airports in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Hamburg; JRS Germany is actively working towards an additional project in Berlin.

Undocumented Migrants

JRS Germany continued its engagement in the Catholic Forum on Life in Illegality, which we co-founded in 2004. In early 2010, we organised a panel discussion with experts on themes like health care and education for undocumented migrants, which was well-attended by a number of members of German parliament. During the annual conference on Illegality in Berlin in early March, politicians renewed their vow to make it possible for migrant children to go to school notwithstanding their residential status. However, political discussions on this issue are proceeding only slowly.

Hardship Case Commission
In 2010, there were 10 meetings of the commission for hardship cases in Berlin, which decided on 243 cases. In 214 cases the commission recommended to the Home Affairs Secretary of the Land of Berlin to issue a humanitarian residence status, granted in 127 cases. JRS, as a representative of the Catholic Church, filed 70 applications. As a result of JRS activities within the commission, 46 persons were granted the right to stay in Germany.

Staff News

While two Jesuits on our team continue to give pastoral care in detention centres in Berlin-Köpenick and München-Stadelheim, our pastoral worker in the detention centre in Eisenhüttenstadt will be leaving in summer 2011 to continue his formation.

During 2010 and in early 2011, several volunteers joined the team in Berlin to support us in visiting and accompanying detainees, as well as giving legal advice to migrants in destitution.

A new Jesuit was appointed for pastoral care in the detention centre in Berlin-Köpenick and Eisenhüttenstadt, while a Jesuit in formation began his regency within JRS, visiting and accompanying detainees in Berlin.

Contact Details

germany@jrs.net