German state to bring in private jets to deport asylum seekers

THE German state of Bavaria could use small private jets to deport rejected asylum seekers, the state’s premier said yesterday in an attempt to put further pressure on Angela Merkel over her liberal immigration policies.

Markus Söder, the premier of the conservative southern German state, said that Bavaria would take unilateral action on migration after it emerged that 1,200 asylum cases had been approved after bribes were allegedly paid.

“We want to increase the deportation pressure all together, thus becoming a model for other federal states,” Mr Söder told Merkur newspaper.

Although Mr Söder declined to provide details on the numbers of planes involved, he said that Bavaria could use small aircraft to deport rejected asylum seekers, rather than waiting on federal bureaucratic procedures.

“This would organise the deportation so that it is significantly more effective and more targeted,” he said, adding that the policy was intended to make Bavaria a less attractive place to apply for asylum.

Anyone who uses violence against police or security forces in reception facilities would forfeit their right to hospitality, he added. Applicants will also lose their current cash grants, to be replaced with a chip card that could only be used to buy food and clothing.

The tough line reflects a deep split on immigration policy between Bavaria’s ruling Christian Social Union (CSU) party and Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) since 2015 when Bavaria bore the brunt of her open-door policy, which saw nearly a million migrants enter Germany.

Mr Söder’s statements came ahead of a state cabinet meeting today, in which Bavaria is slated to launch its own reform plan for asylum seekers, using state-level powers.

As part of the plan, the state government would also train more state police officers to assist with deportation, and set up more detention centres to hold rejected asylum seekers.

The tougher line echoes growing calls for a fresh approach to asylum claims from across Europe, where antiimmigration parties have made big electoral gains in Hungary, Italy, Austria and Slovenia in the last year.

Mr Söder became prime minister of Bavaria in March after the CSU made a poor showing in local elections, widely blamed on a failure to address the migration issue after four years in coalition with Mrs Merkel’s CDU.

Pressure to act independently has been growing after it emerged that a field office in Bremen, northern Germany, illegally granted 1,200 asylum seekers the right to remain, allegedly in exchange for bribes. The CSU’S decision came as the opposition Free Democrats called for a parliamentary inquiry into Mrs Merkel’s migrant policy after the Bremen scandal.