Berlin and Madrid have agreed to return to Spain some migrants arriving in Germany. The German interior minister is hoping for more bilateral agreements to return migrants to their point of entry into Europe.
Eleonore Petermann said the deal had been signed by the German and Spanish interior ministries on Monday. Spain had not asked for anything from Germany in return, she said.
The announcement covers migrants who have registered as refugees in Spain, with their data recorded in the European Dactyloscopy (Eurodac) fingerprint database for identifying asylum-seekers and people crossing borders in an irregular manner.
The agreement means that people arriving from Spain can be returned there within 48 hours of arrival at the German border. The bilateral agreement is due to come into force on Saturday.
Also this weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to visit Spain to meet with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
It is the first such agreement to be made, although Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said he wants to draw up similar arrangements with other European countries. Petermann said similar bilateral agreements were being negotiated with Greece and Italy.
Under European Union rules, migrants arriving in the EU should register and their application be processed in the country where they make their initial entry.
There is pressure on the coalition government in Germany to avoid the situation seen in 2015, when nearly 900,000 people entered the country, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The southern German state of Bavaria has opened the first controversial center to process migrants arriving through the Austrian border. The facilities are part of a plan to reduce the number of asylum seekers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Puchner
First migrant center opens in Bavaria
The centers are part of the "migration master plan" of Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. The concept behind the centers is that asylum seekers will be kept there until their right to stay is determined.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Puchner
Controlled immigration
Bavaria will set up a total of seven "Anker" centers, each holding between 1,000 and 1,500 refugees. The name derives from the German words Ankunft, Entscheidung, Rückführung (arrival, decision, return). The aim is to create a sort "one-stop" center with all the relevant government agencies required to complete the entire asylum process represented on site.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Puchner
Critics warn of ghettoization
Church groups, refugee advocates and opposition parties have all voiced their concern, describing the centers as deportation camps and warning of the ghettoization of migrant communities. The NGO Save the Children said the centers were "no place for children," as they facilitated "tension and aggression."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Puchner
Compromise solution
The centers are the result of a last-minute political deal between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. His initial plan to turn migrants away at the border created a political crisis that could have toppled the coalition government of Merkel's Christian Democrats, their Bavarian sister party the CSU and the Social Democrats.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
Little enthusiasm for centers in Germany
The decision to create the centers was taken at federal government level, but responsibility lies with Germany's individual states. Bavaria — where Seehofer's conservative CSU faces a crucial state election in October — has taken the initiative. But others have delayed the establishment of the migrant transfer centers or refused to take part in the policy.
