Munich – ESI presentation on the asylum policy of the future

11 July 2025
Munich. Photo: flickr / Daniel Knieper
Munich. Photo: flickr / Daniel Knieper

At the opening session of the Hanns Seidel Foundation’s new expert roundtable on asylum and migration policy, ESI’s Gerald Knaus gave an online presentation on “The asylum policy of the future”. The event brought together senior officials from the interior ministry, Bundestag, EU institutions and leading think tanks to discuss practical reforms for managing irregular migration.

The Hanns Seidel Foundation, affiliated with the CSU, launched the roundtable to develop coherent, crisis-proof asylum strategies. Gerald focused on three priorities: learning from what has worked, reducing irregular migration via Turkey, and making use of safe third country arrangements.

He highlighted Germany’s disproportionate role in hosting Syrians and Afghans – nearly 80 percent of all Syrian protection grants in the EU went to Germany and Austria. He called this unsustainable without functioning return policies and cooperation with transit states.

Pointing to the success of the 2016 EU-Turkey agreement, Gerald argued for similar agreements, combining legal pathways, aid, and enforceable returns. He stressed that effective asylum policy must reduce dangerous journeys and restore public trust.

The session also included contributions by Victoria Rietig (DGAP) and Daniel Thym (University of Konstanz) and was moderated by Susanne Schmid. Further meetings of the roundtable will follow later in 2025.