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SearchThe airport procedure ,
Größer darstellen
Source: BAMF
A special procedure, known as the "airport procedure", applies should people attempt to enter the country by air and apply for asylum.
This entails the asylum procedure being carried even out before the Federal Police decide whether an individual may enter the country, that is while they are still in the transit area, if the applicants are unable to identify themselves with a valid passport or replacement passport after having orally requested protection, or if they come from a safe country of origin.
A special arrangement
Background information
An amendment was adopted in 1993 to Article 16 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), and in this context the right to asylum was reformulated in Article 16 a of the Basic Law and the airport procedure was introduced. Without the airport procedure, the Federal Police would have to permit anyone who has destroyed their passport and requests asylum to enter Germany because of the "principle of non-refoulement" that is contained in the Geneva Refugee Convention.
Since the airport procedure is operated subject to the "principle of immediacy", the Federal Office must interview applicants without undue delay, and must decide on the asylum application within two days. The Federal Office has the possibility to approve the application so that permission to enter the country is simultaneously given by the Federal Police, or the Office rejects the asylum application as “manifestly unfounded”. If the application is turned down, the Federal Police can refuse to permit applicants to enter.
Following on from a rejection, an application can be filed for temporary legal protection. Applicants then receive legal advice from an independent lawyer free of charge within three days. If the administrative court approves the emergency application or has not ruled on it within 14 days, the person in question may enter the country. This means that the airport procedure has a potential total duration of 19 days. The asylum applicants must however remain in the airport transit area until a final ruling has been handed down. If the appeal is turned down, they are sent back either to the place where their flight originated, or to their country of origin.
The airport procedure is only implemented at airports which can accommodate asylum applicants on the airport complex. This currently applies at Berlin-Schönefeld, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Main, Hamburg and Munich airports.
