Smuggling fraud: Family pays 7,000 euros and still remains in a dead end!

Smuggling fraud: Family pays 7,000 euros and still remains in a dead end!

The latest incident at the German border once again shines a bright light on the challenges of European asylum policy. In recent days, the federal police have uncovered several cases of illegal border crossings that reveal deeper problems within the asylum system.

Early in the morning, the federal police checked a long-distance bus that was traveling from Turin to Nuremberg. Among the passengers was an Egyptian without an ID who had bought a bus ticket for 200 euros from a suspected smuggler in Milan. His situation was not very pleasant because he had submitted a negative asylum application in Italy in 2022 and was now threatened with imprisonment. After the check, he was taken to the Eichstätt deportation detention center, from where his return to his home country will be organized. This was reported by the Swabian.

Family history at the border

Just a few hours later, police stopped another bus traveling from Milan to Munich. On board was a Syrian family consisting of a 25-year-old man, a 21-year-old woman and their three-year-old child. They had also arrived without valid travel documents and initially provided their personal details verbally. However, the officers found Italian official letters with false information in the luggage.

The man explained that after spending several months in Greece they wanted to travel to his brother in Saarland. The family would have paid a whopping 7,000 euros to a suspected smuggling organization for their trip. Like the first case, the family's trip ended with them being sent back to Austria.

Legal situation in the asylum procedure

These events are part of a larger problem. According to a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on December 19, 2024, the assumption of systemic weaknesses in the Italian asylum system is not generally justified. This means that Member States must always carry out an individual assessment when it comes to asylum applications. This decision has far-reaching consequences for responsibilities within the EU, especially when returns to Italy are pending. A court case in Germany had previously deemed the rejection of asylum applications and the ordering of deportations to Italy to be legal, which the more recent ECJ decision calls into question how Infopoint Europe reported.

The externalization of asylum policy

One of the major issues in European asylum policy is the question of “externalization”. This strategy has been discussed since the 1990s and attempts to relocate asylum procedures to countries outside the EU. A current example is the agreement between Italy and Albania to set up reception centers. The idea behind it is to slow the influx of asylum seekers and take the wind out of the sails of right-wing populist parties. However, externalization also poses some risks, such as legal and ethical concerns bpb.de be clarified.

The persistently high number of asylum applications in the EU, which exceeded one million in 2023, represents an enormous challenge. Politicians are called upon to find practical solutions to deal with the increasing numbers while protecting the rights of refugees and migrants. Only through a harmonized and fair asylum policy can the EU live up to its humanitarian responsibility.