The EU Gets Tough on Illegal Immigrants
Up until the very close of the negotiations, the representatives of the EU states discussed providing special protection for children. In the final draft of the directive, they managed even to find warm words emphasizing the need to provide protection to minors. But the internment of minors is not prohibited. “The guidelines will not bring the sad story of the internment of children and teenagers to an end,” Karl Kopp says. “On the contrary, they will in fact serve to expand such practices.” Germany will thus be able to continue doing as it has done and intern teenagers as young as sixteen. According to Pro Asyl, in the last five years some 400 minors have been interned just in the transit area of the Frankfurt Airport alone. Moreover, the determination of the age of the youngsters is frequently just a matter of an estimation made by immigration authorities. Often the assessment that a refugee is at least 16 is made merely on the basis of an “inspection” of physical characteristics, such as the growth of pubic hair or the development of the testicles.
The European “return” directive constitutes an amazing sort of “compromise”: on the one hand, it lays out high-sounding principles; but on the other hand, the member states are entirely at liberty not to apply them. This is the case as concerns the length of detention, as well as the affording of legal aid and the protection of minors.
It is difficult to say just how many persons in total are being kept in detention centers in Germany, since the individual German states provide only extremely sparse information on the subject. Stefan Kessler of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Germany estimates that over the course of a year anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 persons are detained. Some remain in detention only for a few days, others for many months. Even before their deportation, the refugees are thus marginalized from the surrounding society and required to live under the most miserable conditions. The detainees are forced to stay in their cells for most of the day: in many cases, up to 22 hours a day. This can mean several persons sharing just a few cubic meters, including the toilet and the washing facilities. Meals are brought to the cells three times a day. For all their other needs or wishes, detainees have to appeal to the guards.
In some of the prisons, such as the one in Büren, inmates have the possibility of working outside of their cells. Enterprises have them perform various sorts of work and pay up to 15 euros per hour for their services. Of those 15 euros, however, barely two euros go to the inmates themselves. The rest goes to the prison budget. Nonetheless, the refugees do not get to enjoy their stay in the German detention centers for free. They must themselves pay the related costs — which can run as high as 80 euros a day. To the extent that they are able to come up with the money, the deportees must also pay the costs of their own deportation.
The Berlin Anti-Racist Initiative regularly documents the terrible consequences of the German deportation system in its reports on “German Asylum Policy and Its Deadly Consequences.” Between 1993 and 2007, some 56 persons committed suicide in German detention centers.
One of these persons was the Kurd Mustafa Alcali. Alcali first came to Germany when he was 14 years old. Ten years later, he left for Iraq, where he joined the Kurdish separatist movement PKK. There he was arrested and turned over to Turkish authorities. Despite still suffering from the effects of his traumatic period of incarceration, after his release he had to do his military service in the Turkish army. Alcali deserted from the army and in 2004 he fled Turkey, returning to his family in Germany. In Germany, however, he was unable to obtain a long-term residency permit. When, in May 2007, German authorities ordered Alcali deported, he doused himself with gasoline in the middle of the street and threatened to kill himself. At this point, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital, where doctors confirmed that he was at a high risk of committing suicide. Nonetheless, German immigration authorities managed to have him returned to prison. After what appears to have been just a single interview, the prison psychiatrist determined that there was no risk of Alcali committing suicide. He received no further medical attention. In June 2007, Alcali took his life in a German detention center.
An earlier version of this article appeared in German in issue number 24/08 of the Berlin weekly Jungle World. The English translation is by John Rosenthal.
Lieber Matthias/Dear Matt,
illegal = criminal = you really still want me to respond with anything more than boo friggin’ hoo?!!?
Try moving to U Bahn/subway stop “Hallesches Tor,” in Berlin and then tell me wah wah waaaaaaaaahhhhh for these damn criminals bringing down the country.
Einmal auf Englisch: Phhhht.
The problem with migration issues in Europe, is the fact, that sadly “european social model” favours welfare than real work. There is no “european dream” that could offer immigrants an attractive cultural model for integration, and economy is overburdened with welfare policies.
Multiculturalistic madness is just a cherry in cocktail in this all.
The common sense solution to the problem is: Enter legally and stay; enter illegally and go, immediately; overstay you visa, goodbye – now. No detention, no time to sort out why you left your ci-devant residence, just be deported. Would save a lot of money and court time.
“The common sense solution to the problem is: Enter legally and stay; enter illegally and go, immediately; overstay you visa, goodbye – now. No detention, no time to sort out why you left your ci-devant residence, just be deported. Would save a lot of money and court time.”
This only works when a Govenment decides to enforce the rules that already exist … just look at the problem that we have here in America where multiculturalism is the norm … people still break the laws but they mean NOTHING unless they are enforced.
Oh, and does anyone in the room actually think America’s problem with illegal immigration will get any better under Obama than the current situation?
Heck, we at MAXINE, have trouble thinking it will get any better under a McCain view except he was slapped at least once on the subject (nobody ever touches an Obama on anything) – this is just UGLY!
I would say this isn’t a model the US wants to follow by any stretch. It is refreshing to see some light shed on the “progressive” countries of Europe and how they also have illegal immigrant issues. Germany clearly has some major issues with how they treat illegal immigrants, especially the children. Sorry, you don’t get a pass for inhumane response to illegals entering your country. Feel free to deport them or even put them to work for a term to defrey costs, but the description of conditions and lack of legal representation is atrocious and our allied relationship with Germany should not give them a free pass. I’d like to see some real reform spearheaded by the UN Human Rights Council….ok…not really holding my breath on that one, but wouldn’t it be nice if the UN actually did what it was supposed to do…Darfur anyone?
The Eurocrats are too busy not working (but getting paid really well) to bother with immigration just now.
Check this out (via instapundit):
http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/a_german_view_o.html
Some of you people act like the word “illegal immigrant” means “non-human”. If you were fleeing hell you probably wouldn’t enjoy being treated like a demon, either.
As for “illegal immigration” itself; we all live on one Earth. As technology changes this Earth is gonna get smaller and we won’t all be hiding, paranoia-stricken and gun-toting, in our countries of origin. So maybe more doors should be opening than closing.
Germany clearly has some major issues with how they treat illegal immigrants, especially the children.
OK, the children can stay, if they were born in the US. Our social safety net will provide them with the very best education, medical care, and opportunity.
The criminals that spawned them? OUT, RFN.
Read Phyllis Chesler’s Slave-Owning ‘Cruella DeVille’ Got What She Deserved on this very site, Colin. Then remember that these were legal immigrants, nominally Westernized.
The only doors that should be opened for such as these are the gates of Hell.
No illegals…and CHANGE the 14th Amendment to clarify what it was meant for. It was NOT meant to become a short cut for foreigners to birth children in the US for citizenship.
For all those whiny folks worrying about the “children” of illegals…You NEED to start worrying about poor American children who are now far worse off BECAUSE of stupid people like you.
Guarantee you wouldn’t last two days living in a neighborhood of illegal aliens in LA. They’d put a bullet in your head or a knife through your throat before you could say…ola.
Take your whimpering illegal alien sympathy and stick it. Most Americans are FED up and boiling mad!!!
Iam boiling with anger because of sopme of the comments that are here.Es besteht kein Zweifel ,dass diese Leute sind sehr Rassistisch. Take your racism somewhere, nuckle heads