How Söder wants to score points in migration policy | EUROtoday

IIn the newspaper “Bild am Sonntag”, the Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU chief Markus Söder introduced an “integration limit” into play, with out, after all, giving any particulars. He simply stated: “The model of the old limit of a maximum of 200,000 migrants per year, enforced by the CSU, worked under the grand coalition.” What he meant by that’s unclear.

In truth, in 2017 solely the sister events CDU and CSU agreed on the quantity as a tenet; It by no means gained authorized drive. The 200,000 come from Horst Seehofer, Söder’s predecessor, who demanded an “upper limit” for refugees in the wake of the refugee disaster and due to this fact clashed massively with Chancellor Angela Merkel. The dispute escalated fully in the so-called asylum dispute in 2018, when there was even a risk of a break between the Union events.

In addition to Seehofer and the CSU regional group chief Alexander Dobrindt, Söder, who was already Bavaria’s Prime Minister on the time, confronted probably the most headwind: from the opposition, from society, and likewise from his personal celebration. The criticism was sparked extra by language and conduct than by content material; Söder, for instance, used the phrase “asylum tourism”.

Shortly earlier than the state elections he modified course. He pulled himself collectively rhetorically, however above all he clearly distanced himself from the AfD, which was after all simpler again then, when it wasn’t as sturdy as it’s at this time. Söder later spoke of a “political near-death experience”. With 37.2 p.c in the election, he barely managed to survive politically.

The surveys are inflicting the CSU to assume

Now, in accordance to the newest “Bayern trend”, the CSU is at 36 p.c. The AfD, which acquired 10.2 p.c in 2018, comes to 13. The “Bavarian trend” revealed one thing else: the primary drawback space for individuals is now immigration once more. This takes the CSU off on the improper foot. For many months, her boss had given the interior motto to hold the ball low on the problem. Of course, individuals in the CSU seen how the municipalities have been groaning underneath the large burden of asylum seekers and Ukrainian battle refugees, however they hoped to save themselves by means of election day by emphasizing the great thing about Bavaria and visitors gentle bashing.

In the previous couple of months, nevertheless, doubts have grown as to whether or not this could work. Söder reacted. At the tip of July, he introduced proposals to restrict immigration in Munich: the benefit-in-kind precept needs to be more and more enforced in asylum procedures. Increased use also needs to be made from the potential for encouraging asylum seekers to work. Bavaria can do each of these items itself, citing the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act. It says one thing like: “In shared accommodation. . . “The necessary personal needs can also be covered, as far as possible, through benefits in kind.”

Söder refers to Lampedusa

In the press convention after the celebration govt committee on Monday, Söder justified his new serve with one phrase: Lampedusa. “For everyone who now thinks that this has something to do with a state election, I can only say: Lampedusa does not know any Bavarian state elections and is not interested in them.” Of course, the surcharge will not be that new: the change to advantages in sort was introduced he begins once more, together with the work obligation.

“Bavaria is currently launching a large program so that asylum seekers can do more charitable work until their residence status is decided,” he informed “Bild am Sonntag”.

According to individuals, this was not mentioned in any respect in the board assembly on Monday. At the press convention afterwards, Söder solely spoke when requested. Maybe as a result of it isn’t that simple and requires the creation of recent administrative positions? Söder indicated that.

There can also be a catch when switching to advantages in sort: transferring cash is simpler. When requested how far we’ve got progressed with each, there was no reply from the Interior Ministry on the time of going to press.

The solely new factor about Söder’s higher restrict demand is the phrase “integration limit”. As normal, it needs to be a “guideline” that shall be achieved if every kind of measures are taken: Söder wants all Maghreb states to be declared secure international locations of origin. There also needs to be no extra voluntary admission applications, for instance for Afghans. When requested whether or not Ukrainians fell under the 200,000 guideline, Söder stated they have been “a different story.”