Merz defies court ruling, vows to continue rejecting asylum seekers at German borders

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that Germany will continue to reject asylum seekers at its borders, despite a court ruling deeming the practice unlawful, citing public safety and overburdened municipalities.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has announced that Germany will maintain its policy of turning away asylum seekers at its internal borders, even after a Berlin court ruled the practice violates EU asylum law.

Speaking at a conference in Berlin, Merz acknowledged Monday’s preliminary ruling by the Berlin Administrative Court, which declared that asylum seekers cannot be rejected at border controls without undergoing the Dublin procedure, the EU's standard system for determining the responsible member state for examining an asylum application.

“Until the situation at the external borders is significantly improved with the help of new European rules, we will have to maintain controls at the internal borders,” Merz said. “We know that we can still reject applications. We will, of course, do so within the framework of existing European law.”

The ruling was in response to a case involving two men and a woman from Somalia who were stopped by federal police on May 9 while traveling by train from Poland to Germany. After expressing intent to seek asylum, the trio were sent back to Poland the same day. The Berlin court found this action unlawful and emphasized that asylum seekers must be processed through proper legal channels, not turned away summarily.

The Interior Ministry, under new Minister Alexander Dobrindt, intensified border controls earlier this month, immediately after his appointment. The policy forms part of a new coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Despite the court ruling, Merz insisted that Germany’s approach is both legally defensible and necessary, pointing to the strain on local governments. “This is a task we continue to face—to protect public safety and order and to protect cities and municipalities from being overwhelmed,” he said.

Germany has seen a decline in asylum applications, with 229,751 first-time requests in 2024—down around 100,000 from the previous year. The main countries of origin remain Syria and Afghanistan. Border checks across all land crossings have been in place since September 16, 2024, aimed at curbing irregular migration.

A spokeswoman for the Berlin Administrative Court noted that this was the first legal challenge to the new policy and emphasized that the court's decisions were final in the matter.

As the legal and political standoff continues, the chancellor’s stance sets the stage for a broader European debate on how far national governments can go in managing migration while remaining compliant with EU law.

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