Berlin court bars police from turning migrants away at border

Police have been told to assess asylum claims instead of turning applicants away at the border

A Berlin court has barred German border police from rejecting asylum seekers arriving from neighboring EU countries without reviewing their claims. The ruling deals a blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s recent efforts to reduce asylum-related land migration.

Last month, shortly after Merz took office, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt introduced a policy under which undocumented migrants arriving at land borders were to be turned back – unless they are unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, or otherwise vulnerable individuals. The move aimed to fulfill Merz’s campaign promise to curb migration amid heightened public concern following a series of high-profile crimes involving asylum seekers. 

On Monday, however, the Berlin Administrative Court ruled against the policy. The decision came in response to a legal challenge brought by three Somali nationals who tried to enter Germany last month but were returned to Poland without any examination of their claims. 

The court found Dobrindt’s policy to be unlawful under the Dublin Regulation, which governs how EU member states handle asylum applications. The rules require that asylum seekers apply in the first EU country they enter. If they later apply in another member state, such as Germany, that country can seek to transfer them back to the original state. 

Read more

EU could be ‘destroyed’ – Merkel

In its ruling, the Berlin court emphasized that Germany cannot reject asylum seekers at the border without first checking whether they have submitted a claim, and whether the Dublin rules apply. It noted that while Germany is not obligated to accept all asylum seekers at the border, it also cannot summarily return individuals without reviewing their applications.

As noted by the New York Times, the German authorities could fulfill these requirements by holding applicants in processing centers until it can be determined which EU state is responsible for their claims.

Dobrindt responded to the court’s ruling by arguing that it applies only to the specific case of the three Somali migrants and does not undermine the government’s broader policy. “We stand by our legal opinion and do not consider it to have been undermined in this instance,” he told reporters on Monday night.

Efforts to curb migration to Germany intensified following a series of violent crimes, including the 2024 knife attack in Solingen, where a Syrian asylum seeker fatally stabbed three people and injured eight others during a summer festival. The attacker had originally entered the EU through Bulgaria. German officials failed to deport him because they could not locate him at his assigned asylum residence.