Refugee status and spaces in Germany Information provided by Sabine Scherer, Director Landkreis (County) Kassel Youth Department In-person meeting on August 1, 2016

1. Summary of
Legal Context
Refugee status and spaces in Germany
Information provided by Sabine Scherer, Director
Landkreis (County) Kassel Youth Department
In-person meeting on August 1, 2016

2. Germany is not an immigration
country.
No laws addressing immigration -
with two exceptions!

3. Asylrecht
(Asylum Law)
Ausländerrecht
(Foreigner Law)

4. Asylrecht
(Asylum Law)
‣ Asylrecht is based on the German
Constitution (Grundgesetz) of
1949
‣ Article 16
In Sabine’s words, this article
states, “We Germans will pay
for our guilt to have sent away
so many by offering political
asylum.”
‣ Germany has also made UN and
EU agreements/commitments to
accept asylum seekers.

5. Asylrecht (Asylum Law)
1. Asylum seeker (Asylbewerber) arrives in Germany
2. Asylum application submitted
3. Waiting period - indefinite: months to years
4a. Acceptance (Anerkennung) 4b. Refusal (Ablehnung)
5b. Duty to leave the
country (Ausreisepflicht)
5a. Must apply through
Foreigner Laws
for individual exceptions
to decide
temporary or indefinite
approval
6a.
Toleration
(Duldung)
6b.
Leave
(Ausreise)

6. ‣ Ausländerrecht is a
regulation exception
principle
‣ The law states that
foreigners are not allowed to
stay in Germany.
‣ There are two kinds of
exceptions:
1. International agreements -
EU constitution allows
foreigners from other EU
nations
2.Individual permits
(Erlaubnis) - a case by
case decision made by the
Foreigners Bureau
(Ausländer Behörde)
Ausländerrecht
(Foreigner Law)

7. Individual permits
(Erlaubnis) - a case
by case decision
made by the
Foreigners Bureau
(Ausländer Behörde)
Ausländerrecht (Foreigner Law)
Exception granted to stay
indefinitely
Exception granted to stay
temporarily
Exception denied, must
leave Germany

8. Refugee Reception &
Distribution in Germany
4 stages
1. Initial reception centers (Auffanglager) - days to weeks
Run by the federal government (BAMF), these are the places
where the refugees are first given shelter and entered into the
German system
2. Initial Facility (Erstaufnahme Einrichtung) - days to months
Managed by the states (Bundesland)
3. Shared Accommodation (Gemeinschafts Unterkunft) -
weeks to years
Managed by the counties (Landkreis) and cities (Stadt)
4. Private flats/apartments (Eigene Wohnung) - months to years
Refugees can either be assigned these places, or in some
circumstances, they can find their own apartments

9. • About one million refugees arrived to Germany in
2015 (UN).
• By June of 2016, another 435,000 had arrived
(UN).
• Asylum is granted primarily to people from
countries involved in violent conflict/war. Migrants/
refugees from other countries are most often
denied asylum.
• In 2016, most Syrians received asylum.

10. • Refugees are distributed throughout Germany on a
quota system to various states, then by the states
to various counties and cities.
• Cities, counties, states all determine how to
manage refugee systems.
• In Essen, refugees were distributed to various
temporary camps around the city. In the past
months or so, refugees have been resettled to
temporary facilities in permanent structures.