Residenzpflicht

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A requirement for asylum seekers and tolerated persons living in Germany is called the residence obligation . The official designation is spatial restriction (Section 56 AsylG, Section 61 AufenthG). It obliges those affected to only stay in the area specified by the competent authority. In Austria, a similar regulation applies with the area restriction, but limited to the duration of the approval process, i. H. only until it has been decided in accordance with the Dublin procedure which contracting state is responsible for the asylum procedure.

history

The restriction was created in 1982 and is anchored in Section 56 of the Asylum Act. It appears to contradict the principle of free movement under Article 26 of the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees , which guarantees the right to free movement, but the status of a recognized refugee is not the same as that of an asylum seeker in the ongoing recognition process.

Legal

Residence obligation in Germany
  • nationwide freedom of movement for asylum seekers
  • Berlin and Brandenburg cooperate and allow reciprocal travel after a permanent leave permit has been granted
  • Lower Saxony and Bremen cooperate and allow reciprocal travel
  • District-wide freedom of movement for asylum seekers

    • A residence requirement for the duration of the entire asylum procedure exists within the European Union only in Germany. There it is regulated for asylum seekers in the Asylum Act and for tolerated persons in the Residence Act. The Residence Act also allows the immigration authorities to impose a geographical restriction on individual persons with a residence permit or visa , but this is generally not used.

    Delimitation from the residence requirement

    Since January 1, 2015, the residence obligation for asylum seekers and tolerated persons has been limited to three months; Residence is restricted by a requirement (residence requirement ) only for those asylum seekers and tolerated persons whose livelihood is not secured .

    On March 1, 2016, the Grand Chamber of the ECJ issued a ruling on the subject of residence requirements. In contrast to the residence requirement, the residence requirement does not oblige asylum seekers and tolerated persons to only stay physically in a certain area of ​​the immigration office, but rather the residence requirement obliges them to live in a certain place. The Integration Act led to the August 6, 2016 to § 12a of the Residence new one, which defines a residence support for recognized refugees.

    Residenzpflicht and residence rest are to be distinguished from the obligation of asylum seekers to § 47 of the Asylum Act, for a certain time in the charge of his admission receptacle to reside. In the course of the refugee crisis , the requirements of Section 47 AsylG were expanded; Since October 24, 2015, stricter obligations based on the Asylum Procedure Acceleration Act have been in effect , and since July 29, 2017, the federal states have been free to oblige asylum seekers to better enforce the obligation to leave the country until the BAMF has made an asylum application decision for up to 24 To live in the responsible reception facility for months.

    Asylum seekers

    People with a residence permit, d. H. Those who have applied for asylum and whose asylum procedure is still ongoing are initially subject to the residence obligation.

    How big your area of ​​residence is is regulated differently in the federal states. The residence area can be limited to the district, the district or the federal state in which the asylum seeker must live. It can also consist of several districts or federal states. Asylum seekers and tolerated persons who have to live in Berlin or Brandenburg can move freely in both federal states. The same applies to asylum seekers in Bremen and Lower Saxony.

    The violation of the residence obligation can be punished with a fine of up to 2,500 euros, in the case of repetition also with a prison sentence of up to one year or with a fine.

    Tolerated

    The residence obligation for tolerated persons is regulated in § 61 and § 95 of the Residence Act. For tolerated persons, the stay is initially limited to the respective federal state, but can be additionally restricted by further requirements. The spatial restriction usually expires if the tolerated person has been in Germany for three months without interruption ( Section 61 subs. 1b of the Residence Act).

    Analogous to the provisions for asylum seekers, the immigration authorities of some districts limit the residence of tolerated persons only to the respective district.

    This is, among other things, favored by the fact that the residence-restricting measure for asylum seekers should remain in place even after the asylum application has been rejected and the usually associated change to the status of tolerance.

    The penalty for violations corresponds to the penalty for asylum seekers.

    Political

    After Thuringia relaxed the existing laws on July 1, 2013, the residence obligation has been extended to the state territory in all federal states except Bavaria and Saxony . Asylum seekers and foreign nationals who are tolerated are therefore allowed to stay there anywhere in the country.

    In Austria there has been an area restriction for the first 20 days of the admission procedure since 2004. The area restriction according to § 12 AsylG has been in effect since January 1, 2010 for the entire duration of the admission procedure, i. H. until it has been decided in accordance with the Dublin procedure whether Austria is responsible for the asylum procedure. Section 12 AsylG does not have any territorial restrictions for the rest of the asylum procedure.

    The protest and resistance against the residence obligation has long been a focus of activity of refugee self-organizations , of which two members affected by the residence obligation are currently suing the European Court of Human Rights against the law, who want to achieve the abolition of the residence obligation that affects them. In one case, in a decision of November 20, 2007, the individual complaint was declared inadmissible.

    Since violations of the residence obligation are counted as victimless crime in the crime statistics , they contribute to an increase in the number of cases for asylum seekers. A comparison with the figures for German citizens is difficult, but is sometimes used in political discourse as an argument for restrictions such as the residence requirement.

    In France , asylum seekers are assigned a reception center and are obliged to stay at the place of accommodation assigned to them.

    Policy of the German Federal Government in the 18th legislative period

    The coalition agreement of the German Federal Government in the 18th legislative period contains the following passage regarding the residence obligation:

    “The spatial restriction (so-called residence obligation) for asylum seekers and tolerated persons is extended to the respective country. This does not affect agreements between the countries in favor of general freedom of movement across national borders. Temporary departure from the country is possible for up to a week on the basis of a unilateral notification stating the destination. A spatial restriction of stay can be ordered for criminals and persons who have violated the Narcotics Act or for whom measures to terminate their stay are imminent. For studies, professional practice and training, there is usually a right to exemption from spatial restrictions and residence requirements. "

    In fact, this would create the basis for expanding the residence obligation at state level in Bavaria and Saxony, but this proposal has not yet been implemented in current law. The residence obligation as such should be expressly retained.

    Deviating from the coalition agreement, a compromise was negotiated with the Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Kretschmann in the course of tightening the asylum law for refugees from the Balkans. This also includes the nationwide abolition of the residence requirement after a three-month stay in Germany.

    The Madiama Diop case

    Madiama Diop is an asylum seeker from Senegal who is a leading player at the German American football club Würzburg Panthers . Due to the residence requirement, he is not allowed to take part in away games of his club. After a petition was started on the Internet platform Change.org to enable him to participate in away games, the case received media attention across Germany. After the start of the petition, it became known that the Bavarian CSU party wanted to lift the residence restriction on an administrative district “in the foreseeable future”. The Bavarian Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann , told Bayerischer Rundfunk : “There is no longer a residence requirement for rural districts or administrative districts - there is a residence requirement that relates to the individual federal state”.

    See also

    Web links

    Wiktionary: Residenzpflicht  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

    Individual evidence

    1. ^ Agreement on the legal status of refugees of July 28, 1951 - ( Memento of August 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
    2. ↑ § 12 Residence Act
    3. ↑ Better legal status for asylum seekers and tolerated foreigners. In: press release. Federal Ministry of the Interior, January 2, 2015, accessed on February 1, 2015 .
    4. ↑ curia.europa.eu Judgment 1 March 2016 in Joined Cases C-443/14 and C-444/14
    5. ↑ tagesschau.de (March 1, 2016)
    6. ↑ Amendment to § 47 AsylG from October 24, 2015 , buzer.de.
    7. ↑ Amendment to § 47 AsylG from July 29, 2017 , buzer.de.
    8. ↑ Section 56 Asylum Act (AsylG), Section 58 AsylG
    9. ↑ § 86 , § 85 AsylG
    10. ↑ Map of the status of the expansion of the residence area (by federal state), status from November 8, 2013.
    11. ↑ German “Residenzpflicht” remains unique in Europe. www.residenzpflicht.info, accessed on April 27, 2014 .
    12. ↑ European Court of Human Rights : Decision on the admissibility of the individual complaint No. 44294/04 SEO v. Germany of November 20, 2007, accessed on November 14, 2010.
    13. ^ Right of asylum in France. In: Website of the French Embassy in Germany. June 21, 2016, accessed May 9, 2018 .
    14. ↑ spd.de ( Memento of February 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF).
    15. ↑ welt.de
    16. ↑ taz.de
    17. ↑ change.org
    18. ↑ sueddeutsche.de
    19. ↑ br.de ( Memento from September 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive )