Germany: Outsourcing asylum checks outside EU 'possible in principle'

Outsourcing asylum procedures to countries outside the European Union would theoretically be possible, but not very easy to implement in practice, according to the results of an assessment by Germany's Interior Ministry which were published on Sunday.

The ministry considered three options for the so-called third country approach, namely a Rwanda Model, an Albania Model and an Away Model.

The United Kingdom's Rwanda Model envisaged transferring asylum seekers to another country – in this case Rwanda – where they would then go through an asylum procedure. It has since been scrapped.

Italy developed the Albania Model calling for certain boat migrants to be housed in Albanian camps until a decision was made on their asylum applications. This has been blocked by several Italian court rulings.

Lastly the Away Model would see a request for protection is examined in a transit country before someone reaches European soil.

"All models appear to be legally possible in principle, in some cases after significant legal changes," but in practical terms they are associated with considerable difficulties in some cases, the report concludes.

Applying third-country models to a large number of asylum seekers is "unrealistic," the ministry said in a statement.

This also applies if the link between the asylum seeker and the third country – such as family ties or previous residence in that country – which was previously provided for in the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is removed at the European level.

"Cooperation with third countries can be another building block in limiting irregular migration," Germany's acting Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

However, the experience of the United Kingdom showed "that such attempts can also incur immense costs and fail across the board." This must be taken into account in a realistic assessment.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has indicated that the asylum pact concluded with Rwanda by the former Conservative government has cost taxpayers more than £700 million (approximately $929 million). The new Labour government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer overturned the asylum pact.