Düsseldorf – ESI at hearing on migration policy at the North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament

ESI’s Gerald Knaus was invited to a hearing at the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament on a terrorist attack in the city of Solingen in August 2024, where a Syrian refugee killed three people with a knife.

In his statement, Gerald said that the Dublin system has not only politically failed but is also irreformable and has been practically dysfunctional for over 20 years. He argued that recent discussions in Germany, while understandable, will not enhance its efficacy. Instead, he emphasised the need for an alternative approach to managing asylum claims within the EU.

Gerald highlighted that over the past decade, several million asylum applications were made in the EU, with the majority filed in Germany and Austria. These two countries also accounted for 51 percent of all positive first-instance decisions, an indicator of the disproportionate burden they bear, given their geographic locations which are not at the EU’s external borders. This clearly shows the failure of the Dublin system to distribute responsibilities equitably among member states.

Furthermore, Gerald addressed the inefficiencies of the Dublin system, citing that in 2023, only 6 percent of the EU-wide requests for Dublin transfers were successful, with Germany slightly above average at 7 percent. He pointed out the paradoxical effect observed in Austria, where more asylum applications were received than transferred out, indicating an increased administrative burden despite the intention of the Dublin Regulation to streamline processes.

Gerald concluded by criticising the current system for feeding cynicism and being a complete failure from the European Union’s perspective. He suggested that the EU should focus on reducing irregular migration by recognising the need for agreements that effectively manage migration flows, like the EU-Turkey deal established in March 2016, which significantly reduced asylum applications in Germany. He also advocated for a more pragmatic approach to deportations, prioritising the removal of dangerous persons directly to their countries of origin over intra-EU transfers, which often fail to retain the individuals within the assigned state.

While in Düsseldorf, Gerald also met with Nathanael Liminski, head of the State Council of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Nathanael Liminski and Gerald Knaus. Photo: State Council of North Rhine-Westphalia

• ESI proposal: Safe Third Country Agreements
• ESI proposal: EU-Turkey Statement 2.0