Germany's Stricter Asylum Regulations Amid Rising Immigration Tensions

Germany's government has unveiled a new plan to enforce stricter European asylum rules, which includes enhanced border controls and the detention of asylum seekers pending case responsibility verification. The plan comes amid increasing immigration from the Middle East and Ukraine and aims to manage public services and address security threats.

Germany's government presented plans on Tuesday to implement more rigorous European rules on asylum, proposing to turn away more people at its borders. This move follows the recent announcement of border controls on all land borders, and includes detaining asylum seekers to determine if Germany is responsible for processing their case, leveraging the Eurodac fingerprint database and other tools, according to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

"We want people whose asylum procedure is the responsibility of another EU country to be sent back there," Faeser said. The measures reflect Germany's increasingly strict stance on immigration amid high arrivals of asylum seekers from both the Middle East and Ukraine, risking tensions with other European states.

Faeser stated that Germany would engage European partners at a high political level to secure quicker approval for readmissions to respective countries, ensuring adherence to European rules. However, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has already criticized the tighter German border controls, calling for urgent consultations with other affected countries and increased support for Poland's immigration policies.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left government elaborated the proposals for faster rejections at borders during talks with opposition conservatives, which ultimately fell apart with the conservatives arguing the measures were insufficient. Scholz's coalition does not require conservative approval to push through the proposals but plans to discuss them with regional governments first.

Berlin cites the need to address irregular migration due to overburdened public services and to protect the public from threats such as Islamist extremism. Recent deadly knife attacks by asylum seekers have heightened immigration concerns, including an attack claimed by the Islamic State in Solingen that killed three people in August.

Mainstream parties aim to counter the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has surged in popularity by capitalizing on migration worries. The AfD made history by winning a state election in Thuringia on September 1, marking the first far-right victory since World War Two.

However, Marcus Engler of the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research noted the new proposals may have limited impact, as asylum seekers could find ways to circumvent them, and other EU countries seem unwilling to take asylum seekers back.

(With inputs from agencies.)