www.ssoar.info The role of migration authorities in handling third- country nationals who constitute a threat to public security in Germany: Study by the German National Contact Point for the European Migration Network (EMN) Haberstroh, Friederike Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Arbeitspapier / working paper Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Haberstroh, F. (2020). The role of migration authorities in handling third-country nationals who constitute a threat to public security in Germany: Study by the German National Contact Point for the European Migration Network (EMN). (Working Paper / Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) Forschungszentrum Migration, Integration und Asyl (FZ), 86). Nürnberg: Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) Forschungszentrum Migration, Integration und Asyl (FZ); Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) Nationale Kontaktstelle für das Europäische Migrationsnetzwerk (EMN). https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-71170-3 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, non- Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses This document is solely intended for your personal, non- Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für commercial use. 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The role of migration authorities in handling third-country nationals who constitute a threat to public security in Germany Study by the German National Contact Point for the European Migration Network (EMN) Working Paper 86 Friederike Haberstroh Forschung Co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund of the European Union The role of migration authorities in handling third-country nationals who constitute a threat to public security in Germany Study by the German National Contact Point for the European Migration Network (EMN) Friederike Haberstroh Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, 2020 4 The European Migration Network The European Migration Network The European Migration Network (EMN) was laun- In general, the National Contact Points do not conduct ched by the European Commission in 2003 due to an primary research but collect, analyse and present exis- initiative of the European Council in order to satisfy ting data. Exceptions might occur when existing data the need of a regular exchange of reliable information and information are not sufficient. EMN studies are in the field of migration and asylum at the European elaborated in accordance with uniform specifications level. Since 2008, Council Decision 2008/381/EC valid for all EU Member States plus Norway in order forms the permanent legal basis of the EMN and to achieve comparable EU-wide results. Furthermore, National Contact Points have been established in the the EMN has produced a Glossary, which ensures the EU Member States (with the exception of Denmark, application of comparable terms and definitions in all which has observer status) plus Norway. national reports and is available on the national and international EMN websites. The EMN’s role is to meet the information needs of European Union institutions, Member States’ autho- Upon completion of national reports, the European rities and institutions as well as the wider public by Commission drafts a synthesis report with the support providing up-to-date, objective, reliable and compara- of a service provider. This report summarises the most ble information on migration and asylum, with a view significant results of the individual national reports. to supporting policymaking in these areas. The National In addition, topic-based policy briefs, so-called EMN Contact Point for Germany is located at the Federal Informs, are produced in order to present and compare Office for Migration and Refugees in Nuremberg. selected topics in a concise manner. The EMN Bulletin, Its main task is to implement the annual work pro- which is published quarterly, informs about current de- gramme of the EMN. This includes the drafting of velopments in the EU and the Member States. With the the annual policy report “Migration, Integration, Asy- work programme of 2014, the Return Expert Group lum” and of up to four topic specific studies, as well as (REG) was created to address issues around voluntary answering Ad-Hoc Queries launched by other Natio- return, reintegration and forced return. nal Contact Points or the European Commission. The German National Contact Point also carries out visi- All EMN publications are available on the website of bility activities and networking in several forums, e.g. the European Commission Directorate-General for Mi- through the organisation of conferences or the partici- gration and Home Affairs. The national studies of the pation in conferences in Germany and abroad. Further- German National Contact Point as well as the synthe- more, the National Contact Points in each country sis reports, Informs and the Glossary are also available set up national networks consisting of organisations, on the national website: www.emn-germany.de. institutions and individuals working in the field of migration and asylum. Summary 5 Summary In response to the Islamist terrorist attacks in vari- dence permit, withdrawal and revocation of the ous cities, including Paris (2015), Brussels (2016), residence permit and the protection status, return, Nice (2016), Berlin (2016) and London (2017), the se- location monitoring, the prohibition and restriction of curity debate in the European Union (EU), including political activities and bans on entry into and residence Germany, focused primarily on measures to combat in the federal territory. The competent authorities face Islamist radicalisation and violent extremism. The fact major legal challenges above all with regard to resi- that some of the persons who carried out attacks were dence-terminating measures. Such challenges apply third-country nationals directed attention to mea- where no travel documents are available or where sures aimed at this category of people. In Germany, there are concerns that the person concerned could following the terrorist attack on a Christmas market be tortured in the country of destination on account in Berlin on 19 December 2016, operational measu- of the grounds for their removal. res were undertaken concerning cooperation between relevant authorities, as well as restrictive measures Information sharing between different authorities and under residence law. actors in Germany has proven effective in recent years as a result of its ongoing development and instituti- The migration authorities – that is, the Federal Office onalisation. To date, there is no comparable commu- for Migration and Refugees and the foreigners autho- nication and coordination platform at European level rities – perform various functions relating to third- enabling communication between the migration au- country nationals who constitute a threat to public thorities and the security services. Information sha- security. The Federal Office for Migration and Refu- ring between Germany and other EU Member States gees is assigned a coordinating role with regard to the on security-related aspects in connection with third- transfer of information and the evaluation of security- country nationals takes place on a bilateral basis. In related intelligence between the security services and the ongoing course of development of the Schengen the migration authorities. In this capacity, the Federal Information System (SIS) it is intended to establish a Office for Migration and Refugees has overall charge database, however, which will make asylum-related of the working group ‘Status-Related Accompanying decisions accessible at European level from 2022 and Measures’ at the Joint Counter-Terrorism Centre also open up access to residence-related decisions in (Gemeinsames Terrorismusabwehrzentrum, GTAZ), for some areas. example. In this working group, lines of action relating to measures under the law on foreigners, asylum and nationality against persons with an Islamist terrorist background are discussed. The Federal Government supports various projects to prevent extremism and promote democracy. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees is also active in the field of preventive work, with its “Radica- lisation” counselling centre offering advice for people who fear that someone they know is undergoing Islamist radicalisation.