Germany to make it easier to declare countries safe in curbs on asylum

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By Ludwig Burger

BERLIN (Reuters) -The German government plans to make it easier to declare certain countries of origin safe under a push to reduce the number of asylum seekers, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Wednesday.

Under the plan agreed by ministers in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government on Wednesday, approval from Germany’s upper house of parliament would no longer be required in deciding whether there is persecution in a country that would justify granting asylum to people from there, Dobrindt told reporters.

The upper house Bundesrat represents Germany’s 16 federal states. Circumventing the Bundesrat will speed up the process.

Merz won a national election in February pledging a crackdown on migration and to turn away asylum seekers at the border, but the tougher stance ran into legal obstacles this week and has drawn criticism from opposition parties.

Migration is among German voters’ biggest concerns and a backlash against new arrivals has contributed to a rise in the popularity of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The cabinet also agreed on Wednesday to abolish mandatory legal counsel for asylum seekers facing expulsion.

“These are essential steps that are part of a whole raft of measures to bring about the asylum transformation,” said Dobrindt.

A Berlin court this week ruled against the expulsion by German border police of three Somali asylum seekers. Merz said on Tuesday the verdict could restrict the migration crackdown but would not stop it.

(Reporting by Ludwig BurgerEditing by Madeline Chambers, Matthias Williams and Gareth Jones)