German police fail to carry out nearly 62% of deportations ordered between January and September this year, a media report says.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to speed up deportations yet many of the planned expulsions are still not taking place. This is clear from the federal government’s response to a question from MP Sahra Wagenknecht, who accuses Scholz of outright lying.

According to a media report, the German police could not enforce nearly 62 per cent of the deportation orders to be carried out between January and September of this year. In the first nine months of 2024, 23,610 out of 38,328 planned deportations failed, which represents a rate of 61.6 per cent, the report by Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung (NOZ) reveals.

NOZ also writes that 65.6 per cent of deportations, 31,330 planned returns, also failed to happen in 2023. In 2022 and 2021, these rates were 64.3 per cent and 60.6 per cent respectively. In Germany, it has long been a problem that many deportations cannot be carried out, for example because the people involved have disappeared, the courts prohibit deportation, or the flights cannot be arranged. In addition, deportations regularly fail because the destination country refuses to accept them, or because the individuals involved have health problems.

In January 2024, the Bundestag, with the votes of the governing coalition parties, passed a law allowing for increasing the number and speed of deportation procedures of rejected asylum seekers. The legislation provides longer detention options for those subject to deportation and grants the police more rights to search accommodation.