Germany is to explore a possible UK-style agreement to process asylum claims outside of the country, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz striking a deal to toughen the country's migration policies.
The number of new asylum applications for the year to date was around 73 per cent higher at the end of September than in the same period last year, official statistics show and pressure has been growing on Mr Scholz to act. Support has been growing for far-right parties in Germany as public concern rises over the issue of migration.
Over recent weeks, there had been a flurry of government activity, including legislation to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers, to stiffen punishment for smugglers, to allow asylum seekers to start working sooner, and to introduce temporary checks on the Polish, Czech and Swiss borders. In the new deal, Mr Scholz and 16 states agreed to cuts in benefits for migrants and faster processing of asylum applications to allow for swifter deportations, if required.
It was also agreed that the "feasibility" of assessing claims elsewhere, in a manner loosely similar to how the UK government wishes to do with Rwanda, will be studied. Such an idea is favoured by the opposition to Mr Scholz's coalition government, as well as the centre-right Free Democrats within the coalition itself.
Mr Scholz described the agreement as a “very historic moment” but conceded that a plan to process asylum applications in a non-EU nation may not be possible legally.
Shelters for migrants and refugees have been filling up across the country for months and Germany has also taken in more than 1 million Ukrainians since the start of Russia's war in their homeland.
The federal and state governments agreed Tuesday to change the system for financing the costs for the asylum seekers. Starting next year, the federal government will pay an annual lump sum of €7,500 (£6,500) for each asylum seeker and no longer a total annual sum of around €3.7 billion.
Mr Scholz called the reform a "transition to a breathing system" and said that "with rising numbers, there is more money, with falling numbers there is less."
Asylum-seekers are also to receive at least part of their benefits as credit on a payment card, meaning they will get less cash in the future.
Beyond the UK, other countries – including Denmark – have been looking into processing asylum-seekers remotely. But so far, only Italy has successfully reached a deal with Albania on Monday to give temporary shelter to some of the thousands of migrants and refugees who reach Italian shores, while their asylum bids are being processed.
In other measures, asylum procedures are to be processed faster than before, and asylum applications from people coming from countries with a recognition rate of less than 5 per cent are to be completed within three months.
Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, from the center-right Christian Democratic Union, said: "I expressly disagree with the categorization as historical. It was a step forward."
"The decisive factor is that the figures have to come down," Mr Merz added. "And I have a big question mark over whether they will actually go down with these measures."
A German group that supports asylum seekers and liberal asylum laws in Germany said that it was "appalled" by the new measures and called plans to process asylum pleas outside the country "extremely dangerous."
"Instead of taking pragmatic measures to take in people in need of protection, the solution to Germany's challenges will probably be sought in Turkey or North Africa," Pro Asyl wrote in a statement. "It is absolutely unrealistic to expect such deals to be implemented effectively and, above all, in accordance with human rights."
More than 250,000 people applied for asylum in Germany in the period from January to September, compared to more than 130,000 in the same time period last year. The majority of asylum seekers come from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey.
Associated Press contributed to this report
