Plane hangar to host deportation jail: report
August 5, 2018
The Bavarian state government wants to build a deportation and detention center in Air Berlin's old hangar at Munich Airport, German news magazine Spiegel reported on Saturday.
The reported plans come as Bavaria's ruling CSU party present a hard-line stance on refugees ahead of a state election in October.
Read more: How do deportations work in Germany?
The planned center
According to the report:
- the hangar of the bankrupt Air Berlin will be converted into a deportation prison.
- the center will also hold people who have applied for asylum in another European Union country and have already been rejected there.
- Bavaria's Interior Ministry is still developing the "necessary conceptual foundations" to hold people long enough to establish their identity, possibly exceeding the maximum legal detention period.
Read more: Bavaria unveils its own Center for Asylum and Deportation
Push for deportation: The CSU has been pressuring their national coalition partners to allow them greater control over deportation. To this end it has opened a series of trial "anchor" centers meant to speed up the processing and eventual deportation of asylum-seekers.
Spare hangar: The airport real estate opened up after the buyout of an insolvent Air Berlin by Lufthansa last year.
Needs backing of EU partners: For deportations of asylum-seekers to EU nations where they are registered, the support of those nations is still required. This is subject to ongoing negotiations.
aw/cmk (KNA)