Many Syrian refugees would like to travel to their home country – for example to visit terminally ill relatives. If they do not have a German passport, they jeopardize their residence permit under the current legal situation. But this is set to change. That’s why Jochen Hövekennmeier from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) advises them to “wait and think carefully about whether they are taking the risk of jeopardizing their protection title” when asked by tuenews INTERNATIONAL.
BAMF is working on a solution
Under current law, the BAMF can revoke a refugee’s residence permit if it was granted due to political persecution. However, the Asylum Act provides for exceptions due to “moral obligations”, says Hövekenmeier. These include “classic family matters” such as funerals or a serious illness of close relatives. The BAMF is therefore “in the process of pragmatic solutions”. The Federal Ministry of the Interior also confirmed that it is working on “an exceptional regulation for short trips home”, according to a report by “Tagesschau”. However, it remains to be seen whether a solution will be found before Christmas.
See Asylum Act § 73 (7): If the foreigner travels to the state of which they are a national or, if they are stateless, to the state in which they had their habitual residence, it is presumed that the conditions for entitlement to asylum, the granting of international protection or the determination of a ban on deportation in accordance with § 60 (5) or (7) of the Residence Act no longer apply. The presumption according to sentence 1 does not apply if the journey morally imperative.
and ARD Mediathek | no solution for protection status
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