National report on the governance of the asylum reception system in Germany Jana Beinhorn, Simone Gasch, Birgit Glorius, Melanie Kintz and Hanne Schneider Chemnitz, March 2019 CEASEVAL RESEARCH ON THE COMMON EUROPEAN ASYLUM SYSTEM; Nr. 23 CEASEVAL Research on the Common European Asylum System publishes results of empirical research conducted for the H2020 Project “CEASEVAL” (Evaluation of the Commom European Asylum System). CEASEVAL received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770037. Herausgeberschaft: Prof. Birgit Glorius and Dr. Melanie Kintz Technische Universität Chemnitz Institut für Europäische Studien Humangeographie mit Schwerpunkt Europäische Migrationsforschung 09107 Chemnitz http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/europastudien/geographie Alle Rechte vorbehalten, Chemnitz 2019 ISSN 2627-339X Jana Beinhorn, Simone Gasch, Birgit Glorius, Melanie Kintz, Hanne Schneider Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz/Germany [email protected] [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] National report on the governance of the asylum reception system in Germany Abstract: In this report we present an overview over the complex reception system in Germany. We find that due to Germany’s federal system, that there is not one reception system, but 16 different ones. Further, asylum procedure and reception governance are heavily interlinked and requires the cooperation and coordination of multiple actors, including non-state actors. Legislation passed in recent years, that allows for further differential treatment of asylum seekers by nationality will lead to further reception divergence, but one based on nationality. In this report we further investigate the interaction of actors in two local case studies – Chemnitz and Aachen. Keywords: Germany, Reception, Governance Asylum seekers, Refugees, Saxony, North Rhine- Westphalia, decision making, civil society Please cite as: Beinhorn, Jana; Gasch, Simone; Glorius, Birgit; Kintz, Melanie; Schneider, Hanne (2019): National report on the governance of the asylum reception system in Germany. In CEASEVAL RESEARCH ON THE COMMON EUROPEAN ASYLUM SYSTEM (23). Available online at http://ceaseval.eu/publications/WP3_Germany.pdf 1 Table of Content 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Data Collection .................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Initial governance design ..................................................................................................... 7 2. Recent reconfigurations of the governance of the reception system .................................... 10 2.1 Processes of decision-making in reception governance ......................................................... 15 2.1.1 Policy making in Germany – basic introduction ............................................................... 15 2.1.2 Asylum and Reception Policy making between 2013 and 2019 ....................................... 17 2.2 Main revisions of the current reception system .................................................................... 25 2.2.1 Registration and asylum procedure ................................................................................. 25 2.2.2 Distribution and accommodation ..................................................................................... 26 2.2.3 Asylum seekers’ benefits .................................................................................................. 26 2.2.4 Health care ....................................................................................................................... 28 2.2.5 Integration ........................................................................................................................ 28 2.2.6 Funding ............................................................................................................................. 29 3. Functioning of the governance reception system today ......................................................... 30 3.1 National and state-level governance of reception ................................................................. 30 3.1.1 Registration and Asylum procedure ................................................................................. 30 3.1.2 Distribution ....................................................................................................................... 31 3.1.3 Housing and Catering ....................................................................................................... 32 3.1.4 Health Care ....................................................................................................................... 33 3.1.5 Integration, Schooling, Vocational Training and Labor Market Access ............................ 33 3.1.6 Administration and other areas of reception governance ............................................... 34 3.2 Governance at the local level: Chemnitz and Aachen ............................................................ 35 3.2.1 Chemnitz and Aachen within their respective states ....................................................... 35 3.2.2 Background information on Chemnitz and Aachen ......................................................... 40 3.2.3 Case study: Chemnitz ....................................................................................................... 42 3.2.4 Case study: Aachen........................................................................................................... 58 3.2.5 Comparing Chemnitz and Aachen .................................................................................... 68 4. Policy Outcomes. Mechanisms of convergence and divergence in policy implementation .. 69 4.1 Germany’s federal system ...................................................................................................... 69 4.2 Differential treatment of asylum seekers by nationality, gender and household size .......... 70 4.3 Other mechanisms enabling divergence or preventing convergence of policy implementation ...................................................................................................................................................... 70 2 5. Conclusion and Outlook ........................................................................................................... 70 References ........................................................................................................................................ 72 3 Index of abbreviations AfD Alternative for Germany AGIUA NGO Chemnitz AKN Uniform proof of arrival AnkER-zentren Centre for reception, decision, return AsylRÄndG Legal Status Improvement Act AsylbLG Asylum Seekers Benefits Act AsylG Asylum Law (since 2015) AsylVfG Asylum Procedure Law (until 2014) AufenthG Residence Act AWO Workers’ Welfare Association AZR Central Register of Foreigners BAMF Federal Office of Migration and Refugees BMI Federal Ministry for Interior, Building and homeland BÜMA Notification of the registration as asylum seeker Caritas Welfare association CDU Christian Democratic Union CSU Christian Social Union DaMigra Umbrella organization of all migrant associations DRK German Red Cross EAE Initial reception facility EASY IT system for initial distribution of asylum seekers eGK Electronic health card FDP Free Democratic Party FlüAG NRW Refugee Reception Law NRW FRG Federal Republic of Germany GDR German Democratic Republic GG Basic Law Greens Alliance 90/The Greens KDS Core data system LEA Initial reception facility of the state (NRW) 4 LSVD Lesbian and Gay Association Malteser Welfare association MARiS IT system (migration-asylum-reintegration-system) MBE Migration counselling for adults MKFFI Ministry of children, family, refuges and integration NRW North Rhine-Westphalia MIK Ministry of interior and municipal affairs NGO Non-governmental organization NPD National Democratic Party of Germany Pegida Nationalist, far-right movement (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) PIK station Personalized Infrastructure Component Piraten Pirate Party Germany PRO ASYL Refugee advocacy group SächsFlüAG Saxon Refugee Reception Law SGB Social security code SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany ÜW Department of transitional housing Aachen ZUE Secondary reception facility 5 1. Introduction Multi-level governance of migration reception in Germany is a very complex subject. The implementation of reception policy is shared among actors from the national, state and local level and is heavily intertwined. Further, reception policy is a wide field covering a variety of tasks, regulated by a large number of rules and assigned to and carried out by a variety of state and non-state actors. Even though the field of reception policy in itself is very complex, it would be wrong to perceive it as a field that can be investigated in an isolated manner. Reception policy is part of asylum policy which in itself is embedded in the field of migration policy. Further, reception policy overlaps with other policy areas, like housing policy and education policy, but also foreign policy. In the following report we will show how reception policy has developed in the history of post-war Germany and how it has been changed due to the pressure caused