Asylum from A to Z
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Airport Procedure
Asylum seekers coming to Germany by air from a country of origin considered safe as well as refugees without passport asking for asylum at the airport are subject to the so-called airport procedure. This special procedure was introduced in 1992 when the fundamental right to asylum in the German constitution was altered. They may not leave the area of the airport and are accomodated in the transit area. Their request for asylum is heard and decided on by the BAMF (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) in a summary procedure. Only if the request is approved or if the BAMF does not come to a decision within 2 days, will the refugee be allowed to enter Germany and to go through the regular asylum procedure. If, however, the request is refused as 'evidently baseless', the refugee may be deported without further judicial review. His/her only way then to avert this is a claim for [Eilrechtsschutz] which, however, is granted most scarcely. Many refugees in the transit area are awaiting their deportation for weeks.
C
Committee on Hardship Cases
To be acknowledged as a hardship case a refugee must appeal to the Committee on Hardship Cases of the state he resides in. The Committee in turn will ask the authority in charge (in most cases the Ministery of the Interior) to grant a residence permit. But since the states are not obliged by German law to establish such a committee, some of them, e.g. Bavaria, do not have one at all.
Convention Travel Document
Surrogate passport, based on art. 28 of the GCR. A refugee being persecuted by his/her country of origin cannot be expected to ask for a regular passport to be issued to him by that very same country.
CTD -> Convention Travel Document
D
Deportation
Deportation means departure into another country, enforced by the authorities. In 2004, 22,000 people werde deported from Germany, most often by air. Partly, the deportees are escorted by the police, and sometimes coercives such as ties or tranquillizing medication are used. Deportation carries a ban on re-entry. On request, this ban may be temporary. He/she who re-enters in spite of a ban incurs a penalty.
G
Geneva Refugee Convention
The Geneva Refugee Convention (GCR) from 1951 is the singlemost important agreement in international law upon whom to acknowledge as refugee and thus to accord international protection. Far more than 100 countries, amongst them Germany, have signed it. German law codifies that no person meeting the Convention's definition of who is a refugee may be deported.
GRC Refugee
GRC refugees are people acknowledged as refugees according to § 60 of the German Residence Act which is based upon the Geneva Refugee Convention. GRC refugees relish the same extensive social rights as those entitled to asylum and are granted a residence permit for three years. Thereafter their status is checked again. If their acknowledgement is not revoked at this point, they are granted a settlement permit.
H
Hardship Case => Hardship Regulation
Hardship Regulation
According to the hardship regulation provided by law people in a very tough situation may be granted a residence permit. The decision whether or whether not a single person or a family is acknowledged as a case of hardship lies in the hands of the Ministery of the Interior of each German state when asked by the Committee on Hardship Cases or the Committee on Petitions of the particular state. The procedure varies from state to state, and not in all of them exists such a thing as a Committee on Hardship Cases. In fact, so far the hardship regulation has been exerted in only a few cases.
I
Illegalised People
People without papers (meaning: without residency status) are called illegalised or, in the authorities' terms, illegal. Estimations as to their number in Germany range from 500,000 und 1,500,000. Some of them come clandestinely to work in Germany. Others once had a residency status, but lost it. There also those who hide after their application for asylum has been refused. The living conditions of illegalised people are very poor. They cannot claim social rights such as medical supply and, as black labourers, are exploited by their employer.
Immigration Act
The Immigration Act became operative on Jan 1, 2005. In fact it's a package made up of the Residence Act (AufenthG) which substitutes the old Aliens Act, the Act on the Freedom of Movement for EU citizens and amendments to several other laws, such as the Asylum Procedure Act (Asylverfahrensgesetz) or the [Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz]. Pro Asyl criticises the Immigration Act for providing precious few ameliorations, but manifold deteriorations for refugees.
P
Passport
In Germany aliens are subject to the [Ausweispflicht] too. But due to the circumstances of their flight, refugees often do not have a pass at all or a faked one. If they indicate their illegal entry into Germany to the authorities immediately, e.g. by applying for asylum, they may, according to the Geneva Convention on Refugees, not be penalised.
R
Refugee
In a closer sense, a refugee is a person acknowledged as GRC refugee. When used in the media and the public debate, refugee most often also means asylum seeker and [Geduldeter].
Residence Act
The most important rules and regulations concerning sojourn of aliens in Germany are arranged for in the Residence Act (AufenthG). Amongst other, regulations of entry and sojourn, expulsion reasons and deportation rules are laid down. As of Jan 1, 2005, the Residence Act has replaced the former Aliens Act.
Residential Obligation
Asylum-seekers and Geduldete are obliged to settle in the town or county or sometimes state where the aliens authority in charge resides. This is called residential obligation. If they want to leave this area, e.g. to visit relatives, they must ask for a written permit. Violations of the residential obligation are fined, in case of repeated breaches a criminal procedure is imminent. For many years, refugee organisations have been calling for the residential obligation to be abolished.
Revocation
Acknowledged refugees may lose their right of asylum if their reasons for asylum have ceased to exist. Until several years ago, the authorities had barely used their option to revocate. This has changed in a most drastical way. In 2004 15,000 ackowledged refugees, many of them living in Germany for a long time, were deprived of their protected status and are threatened to lose their residence permit as well. Particularly affected ate refugees from Iraq and Kosovo, but also from Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and many other countries. As of Jan 1, 2005 it is specified by law that each refugee's protected status shall be checked again and possibly revoked after 3 years. Pro Asyl considers these lasting mass revocations inhumane and contrary to international law.
S
Settlement Permit
Having a settlement permit you may live and work in Germany for an unlimited period. To obtain this permit, though, depending on the reason of your sojourn you have to meet sundry conditions: long-term legal residence in Germany, no dependency on welfare etc. Under certain circumstances the permit may be withdrawn.
