Secret Syria trip: Interior Minister plan deportations and returns!

Secret Syria trip: Interior Minister plan deportations and returns!

In a surprising turn, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner from Austria and his German counterpart Nancy Faeser visited Syria together after a trip originally planned for the end of March for security reasons. This was reported by the Kleine Zeitung . The short stay in Damascus was primarily the goal of discussing the possibilities of deportations to Syria and voluntary repatriations from migrants.

As part of the visit, the ministers met the interior minister of the transitional government, Anas Khattab. Karner emphasized the need to have talks with the Syrian government in order to tackle the currently existing migration problem. Khattab described the situation in Syria as more stable than often assumed. The rejections of asylum seekers, especially in the context of the Schengen Agreement, were also a central topic of the talks.

Schengen agreement and migration

The Schengen Agreement, which came into force on March 26, 1995, now comprises 26 countries and aims at the abolition of personal checks on internal limits. It also regulates the external border controls and ensures uniform visa management. Third countries usually need a Schengen visa for entry into this room, such as the world . In recent years, Schengen states have repeatedly introduced temporary border controls to react to security policy challenges such as terrorism or increased migration figures. This decision is supported by the Schengen border code, which also allows random control.

The latest developments are reinforced by the fact that some Schengen countries have re-introduced personal checks on their internal borders since 2015, which caused a critical reaction from the EU. Minister Faeser and Karner are in constant exchange about rejections at the German borders, which further fueled the debate about border controls and asylum policy. In particular, the focus is on the situation at the external borders and the return of migrants.

Cooperation talks of the German -speaking Interior Minister

As part of the meeting in Lower Austria, representatives from Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland also took part in the talks. These working talks are carried out regularly; The last meeting took place in Basel last year. A central topic of the coming days will be radicalization about social media and the surveillance of encrypted communication services. The SPÖ State Secretary Jörg Leichtfried will also take part in the discussions about terrorism that are to be continued in Krems on Tuesday.

A joint press conference of the heads of the department is planned for Tuesday afternoon, which underlines the importance of discussions and points out that the federal states continue to work on a coordinated European policy to combat migration and terrorism.