Germany’s incoming interior minister, Horst Seehofer, intends to execute a “master plan” to speed up the asylum process and make sure deportations keep pace with rejections.
“The number of deportations must be increased significantly,” Seehofer told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag on Sunday. “We need to take tougher action, especially in the case of criminals and perpetrators among asylum seekers.”
Seehofer is the leader of the Christian Social Union, the Bavaria-based sister party of the federal Christian Democratic Union.
In 2010, Seehofer said the Turkish and Arab migrants were no longer needed in Germany, and was strongly criticized by the Turkish community and by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In 2011, Seehofer said those who wanted to stay in Germany should be ready to sign up to German values, and proposed amending the Bavarian Constitution so that the authorities in the state would be under obligation to help with the integration process and minorities should be prepared to actively support the integration process.
In late 2015, under pressure from Seehofer and his allies, Merkel restricted cash benefits for refugees and added Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro to the list of “safe” countries to which migrants can be returned.
Seehofer has repeatedly called on the federal government to set a cap on the number of refugees Germany should be taking in, saying that the country was able to manage only “200,000 applicants [per year] for asylum … at the most.”
Seehofer will take over the newly renamed and enhanced Interior, Construction and Homeland (“Heimat”) Ministry in the upcoming coalition government. He also vowed to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy against criminals, which includes installing effective video surveillance at every hot spot in the country.
“There has to be a consensus throughout Germany that we will no longer tolerate lawless zones,” Seehofer said.