Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 1, 1993 TAG: 9307010340
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BONN, GERMANY LENGTH: Medium
Germany's restrictive new asylum law takes effect today. It marks a turning point in Europe's policy toward a mass migration from poor and war-torn nations.
Whether they are Sri Lankans fleeing civil war or Romanian Gypsies facing discrimination, refugees trying to enter Germany by land won't be allowed in.
In a domino effect, transit countries are preparing their own restrictions.
"After the Cold War we were going to build a common European house. But instead we're building a European fortress, surrounded by walls," said Herbert Leuninger, spokesman for Pro-Asyl, a German lobby for refugees.
Germany's old asylum policy, written to atone for Nazi persecution, essentially let all refugees stay for an unlimited time.
The policy made Germany the primary European refuge for asylum-seekers. Politicians scrapped the policy because they said it was fueling neo-Nazi violence and draining social welfare funds.
Arsonists torched two apartments used by Turks and a Turkish-owned grocery store in overnight attacks in western Germany, causing two injuries, police said Wednesday. On May 29, the day after Parliament passed the law, five Turks died in a firebombing in Solingen.
Under the new policy, asylum-seekers who arrive from a European Community country or one bordering Germany will be immediately sent back to those nations.
Asylum-seekers arriving in Germany by airplane or ship will have a chance to prove they are fleeing a country at war or run by a dictator. They will be kept for up to 19 days while awaiting a ruling on whether they can stay.
Poland is planning repatriation treaties that would require Soviet bloc lands to take back most asylum-seekers. Poland and the Czech Republic are also drawing up new visa requirements, as are Sweden and Denmark.
by CNB