Collection camps in Germany
01 July 1992
From 1 July a new law in Germany will speed up asylum procedures and allow refugees to be housed in "collection camps". The law says that asylum seekers whose applications are "obviously unfounded", because they are thought to be "economic migrants" not political ones, will be sent to camps while they are processed. Two conservative states, Bavaria and Baden- Wurttemberg, and the Social Democrats in North Rhine Westphalia have already set up camps despite opposition from lawyers, church organisations and the Green Party. Mr von Niedig, head of Germany's central office for the recognition of refugees resigned at the end of June because he believed the backlog, which led to the new law, could have been avoided if the government had provided sufficient funds and that the law would fuel anti- foreigner sentiment.
Guardian, 30.6.92.