Abstract
‘Culture of deportation’ is a term used primarily by refugee-activist movements in Germany to describe the tradition of involuntary returns and deportations of refugees, the threat thereof, and the prevention of social inclusion.
This chapter critically discusses the political context of the ‘culture of deportation’ within the German asylum system and the European border system, its neo-colonial foundation, and future implications. It demonstrates the complex impact that the systematic enforcement of this tradition has on the lives of African refugees in Germany and after involuntary return. These effects include barriers, isolation, and fears in nearly all areas of the lives of those who have no stable residency status in Germany.
Furthermore, the impact that Covid-19 has on the ‘culture of deportation’ is discussed. The (temporary) suspension of deportations by worldwide travel restrictions brought a small glimpse of hope and peace to the lives of African refugees in Germany. Lastly, the role of international social work in the described scenario is discussed.
The chapter is based on the analysis of documents and interviews and observations of the author from her work with African refugee activists and asylum seekers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The Voice Refugee Forum was founded by five African asylum seekers in 1994.
- 2.
Nationals of Ghana and Senegal are per se nearly excluded from the access to asylum as these two countries are classified as ‘safe countries of origin’, hence it is assumed that a person from there would not suffer any form of persecution that would provide grounds for asylum.
- 3.
All names and other personal identifiers in the chapter have been changed to protect privacy and confidentiality.
References
Bayerischer Flüchtlingsrat. (2020). Rollstuhl und Gefängniskleidung nach Äthiopien. In T. Der Fall von Mimi (Ed.), Abschiebewahnsinn gegen jede Vernunft. https://www.fluechtlingsrat-bayern.de/in-rollstuhl-und-gefaengniskleidung-nach-aethiopien/
Bayerischer Flüchtlingsrat. (2021a). Abschiebungen—Themeninfo. https://www.fluechtlingsrat-bayern.de/themen/abschiebungen/#themeninfo
Bayerischer Flüchtlingsrat. (2021b). Corona-Pandemie wütet in bayerischen Unterkünften für Geflüchtete. https://www.fluechtlingsrat-bayern.de/corona-pandemie-wuetet-in-bayerischen-unterkuenften/
Bialasiewicz, L. (2012). Off-shoring and out-sourcing the borders of Europe: Libya and EU border work in the Mediterranean. Geopolitics, 17(4), 843–866.
Bundesamt für Justiz. (1992). Asylverfahrensgesetz. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/asylvfg_1992/
Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge. (2019). Sichere Herkunftsstaaten. Asyl und Flüchtlingsschutz. https://www.bamf.de/DE/Themen/AsylFluechtlingsschutz/Sonderverfahren/SichereHerkunftsstaaten/sichereherkunftsstaaten-node.html
Cusumano, E., & Gombeer, K. (2018). In deep waters: The legal, humanitarian and political implications of closing Italian ports to migrant rescuers. Mediterranean Politics, 25, 245–253.
Demiralay, C., & Haasen, C. (2011). Acculturation. In W. Machleidt & A. Heinz (Eds.), Praxis der interkulturellen Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie. Migration und Psychische Gesundheit (pp. 63–66). Elsevier, Urban & Fischer.
Der Spiegel. (2019). Europarat kritisiert deutsche Abschiebepraxis. Bericht des Anti-Folter-Komitees. https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/abschiebungen-europarat-kritisiert-deutschland-bericht-des-anti-folter-komitees-cpt-a-1266507.html
Deutscher Bundestag. (2018). Visaerteilungen im Jahr 2017. Antwort der Bundesregierung auf eine Kleine Anfrage, Bundestags-Drucksache 19/2035. http://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/19/020/1902035.pdf
EASO. (2020). EASO special report: Asylum trends and COVID-19. PUBLIC. https://www.easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/easo-special-report-asylum-covid-june-2020.pdf
Ellermann, A. (2009). States against migrants: Deportation in Germany and the United States. Cambridge University Press.
European Commission—Migration and Home Affairs. (2020). Country responsible for asylum application (Dublin). https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/asylum/examination-of-applicants_en
Grunau, A. (2020). Corona-Crise gefährdet Menschen ohne Papiere. Deutsche Welle. https://www.dw.com/de/corona-krise-gef%C3%A4hrdet-menschen-ohne-papiere/a-53366474
Happelmann, N. S., & Zólyom, F. (2019). Ankersentrum—Surviving the ruinous Buin. Archive Books.
Hess, S., Pott, A., Schammann, H., Scherr, A., & Schiffauer, W. (2018). Welche Auswirkungen haben “Anker-Zentren”?—Eine Kurzstudie für den Mediendienst Integration. Mediendienst Integration.
Kirchhoff, M., & Lorenz, D. (2018). Between illegalization, toleration, and recognition: Contested asylum and deportation policies in Germany. In S. Rosenberger, V. Stern, & N. Merhaut (Eds.), Protest movements in asylum and deportation. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer Open.
Koehler, C. (2018). Study on trafficking resilience and vulnerability en route to Europe—STRIVE: National Report Germany. ICMPD. (unpublished).
Korvensyrjä, A. (2019). Activist perspectives on the “made in Germany” culture of deportation.
Lemberg-Pedersen, M. (2019). Manufacturing displacement. Externalization and postcoloniality in European migration control. Global Affairs, 5(3), 247–271.
Link, R. (2019). Leben in der Schattenwelt—Papierlose in Deutschland. Deutschlandfunk. https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/papierlose-in-deutschland-leben-in-der-schattenwelt.724.de.html?dram:article_id=459359
Network for Critical Migration Consciousness. (2021). Deportees emergency reception and support. https://www.nfcmc.org/de/ders/
Nyers, P. (2003). Abject cosmopolitanism: The politics of protection in the anti-deportation movement. Third World Quarterly, 24(6), 1069–1093.
Oulios, M. (2013). Blackbox Abschiebung. Geschichten und Bilder von Leuten, die gerne geblieben wären. Suhrkamp.
Popescu, M., & Libal, K. (2018). Social work with migrants and refugees: Challenges, best practices, and future directions. Editorial. Advances in Social Work, 18(3).
Pro Asyl. (2020a). Schicksal Abschiebung: Zehn Schlaglichter aus 2020. https://www.proasyl.de/news/schicksal-abschiebung-zehn-schlaglichter-aus-2020/.
Pro Asyl. (2020b). Flüchtlingspolitische Anliegen in Zeiten von Covid-19 zur Tagung zur Tagung der Innenministerkonferenz vom.
Pro Asyl. (2021). Newsticker Coronavirus: Informationen für Geflüchtete und Unterstützer*innen—Hintergrund. https://www.proasyl.de/hintergrund/newsticker-coronavirus-informationen-fuer-gefluechtete-unterstuetzerinnen./
Rosenberger, S. (2018). Political protest in asylum and deportation. An introduction. In S. Rosenberger, V. Stern, & N. Merhaut (Eds.), Protest movements in asylum and deportation. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer Open.
Schenk, L. (2007). Migration and health–developing an explanatory and analytical model for epidemiological studies. [migration und gesundheit–Entwicklung eines Erklärungs- und Analysemodells für epidemiologische Studien]. International Journal of Public Health, 52, 87–96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-007-6002-4
Schouler-Ocak, M., & Kurmeyer, C. (2017). Study on female refugees: Repräsentative Untersuchung von geflüchteten frauen in unterschiedlichen Bundesländern in Deutschland. Charité.
Sindani, J.-M. (2018). Gestrandet im “Paradies.” Erfahrungen aus der Caritas-Asylberatung. Lambertus-Verlag.
Statista. (2021). Hauptherkunftsländer von Asylbewerbern in Deutschland im Jahr 2020. https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/154287/umfrage/hauptherkunftslaender-von-asylbewerbern/#professional
The Voice Refugee Forum. (2017). The slave and colonial culture of deportation (Updated). http://thevoiceforum.org/node/4400
UNHCR. (2020a). Figures at a glance. https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html
UNHCR. (2020b). Return of people not in need of international protection. https://www.unhcr.org/return-of-people-not-in-need-of-international-protection.html
Üstün, C. (2019). The impact of migration policies on the EU’s image as a value-driven normative actor. EuroMeSCo series, 46 papers. IEMed., European Institute of the Mediterranean.
Vogel, D. (2015). Update report Germany: Estimated number of irregular foreign residents in Germany (2014). Database on irregular migration. Update report. http://irregular-migration.net/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Koehler, C. (2022). The Impact of COVID-19 on the ‘Culture of Deportation’ for Refugees from African Countries in Germany. In: Gonçalves, M.d.C.d.S., Gutwald, R., Kleibl, T., Lutz, R., Noyoo, N., Twikirize, J. (eds) The Coronavirus Crisis and Challenges to Social Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84678-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84678-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-84677-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-84678-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)