Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder has proposed the region use its own aircraft to deport failed asylum seekers and illegal immigrants rather than wait for the German federal government to carry out deportations.
Söder, a senior figure in the Christian Social Union (CSU), made his comments this week saying that the region could use smaller aircraft and carry out deportations more swiftly, German magazine Focus reports.
“With this, you can organise the deportations much more effectively and more targeted,” Söder said and added that it would make attempts to claim asylum in Bavaria far less attractive to migrants who have little chance of an approved asylum claim.
The proposal is part of a larger plan to increase pressure on failed asylum seekers and illegal migrants to leave the country with Bavarian police being specially trained specifically for deportations and new detention facilities are planned to ensure migrants do not go underground ahead of their deportation dates.
Following plans of CSU leader and federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, Bavaria will also implement so-called “anchor centres” for newly-arrived migrants undergoing the asylum claim process.
“We want to offer a programme that helps people return home,” Söder added.
While back in late 2016 Chancellor Merkel claimed that deportations would be a top priority for her government, many scheduled deportations in 2017 and 2018 have simply not occurred due to various issues from pilots refusing to take migrants onboard their aircraft to others going underground and running from authorities.
When it comes to deporting radical Islamic extremists, a report from German Interior Ministry at the request of a Free Democratic Party (FDP) MP showed that since 2017 only ten Islamic radicals had been sent back to their country of origin.
It was also revealed that the former bodyguard of notorious 9/11 terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden was currently living in Berlin collecting welfare from German taxpayers.