The harsh policies against the immigration of the Merz Chancellor record a failure in court. An action initiated by three somali immigrants

A court in Germany decided on Monday that the rejection of asylum applicants at the country's borders, imposed by Friedrich Merz's government, is illegal, in the context in which the Chancellor has made an immigration reduction one of his priorities, AFP reports.

“People who request asylum during border control on German territory cannot be rejected without the (European) procedure in Dublin have been applied to determine the Member State responsible for examining their asylum application,” the Berlin Administrative Court said in a statement, after being notified by three Somalis.

These, two men and a woman, had arrived by train in Poland. After a customs check on May 9, 2025 at the Frankfurt train station, they were expelled to Poland on the same day, while applying for asylum. Currently, in Poland, they challenge this expulsion to German justice.

“The expulsion of the applicants is illegal,” the court explained. Since the Somalis requested asylum, “they had to be authorized to cross the border”, and the Dublin procedure, which determines which country is responsible for their asylum application, had to be applied in Germany.

Berlin cannot “invoke (…) an emergency situation”, as the Government does, the court continued, stressing that the police “did not demonstrate the existence of a threat to security or public order.” “The decisions are final,” the court added.

The Merz government announced shortly after taking over the function at the beginning of May, the rejection of most asylum applicants and a significant multiplication of controls, a controversial and less appreciated by the neighboring countries.

It was a commitment made by the Chancellor Conservatives during the election campaign for the legislative elections on February 23, dominated by migratory problems, especially following deadly attacks in which foreigners have been involved in recent months.