BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and five European counterparts agreed on a set of goals on Friday to tighten asylum rules in the bloc, including allowing deportations to Afghanistan and Syria as standard practice.
The meeting at Germany’s highest peak, the Zugspitze, follows Berlin’s decision in May to reject asylum seekers at the border, a policy it said was coordinated with neighbouring countries but drew significant criticism.
Dobrindt met with his counterparts from France, Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Denmark, as well as EU Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner.
The asylum policy goals agreed on Friday, which require approval from Brussels, include removing legislative obstacles to transferring rejected asylum seekers to secure centres outside the EU and enabling asylum procedures in third countries.
“We share the conviction that Europe must act with determination and unity to reduce illegal migration effectively,” a joint document shared by the German interior ministry said.
Deportations to countries such as Afghanistan and Syria should be reinstated as standard practice, with citizens from countries failing to cooperate on deportations to face visa restrictions, the document said.
The meeting comes after Germany’s new government deported 81 Afghan men by plane to their home country on Friday, marking the latest step in the government’s push to crack down on migration since it took office in May.
(Reporting by Joern Poltz and Riham Alkousaa, Editing by Friederike Heine)
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