Progress in migration policy: Bremerhaven is setting new trends!

Progress in migration policy: Bremerhaven is setting new trends!

On June 14, 2025, the Interior Ministers' Conference (IMK) took place in Bremerhaven, in which interior ministers and senators from the federal states took part. A central topic was migration policy, which Interior Minister René Wilke described as crucial for strengthening the security architecture in Germany. According to cityreport.pnr24-online.de, the discussion on around 80 agenda items was intensive and solution-oriented.

Another focus was on the rapid implementation of the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) into German law. The aim is to reduce the interfaces between the various authorities in order to speed up the asylum procedures. In addition, the federal government should set up and operate asylum centers for the EU external border procedure in order to create a clearer structure in the asylum procedure.

Migration policy in focus

The conference also decided on a return offensive that aims to involve the countries of origin more closely in the procedures. India, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are to be included in the list of safe countries of origin. Furthermore, it was demanded that the Federal Ministry of the Interior create temporary residence permits for tolerated holders in order to improve their legal situation.

The newly built “Dublin Center” in Eisenhüttenstadt will also be an important element in migration policy. This center, which consists of two parts of the building - one for women and families traveling alone, the other for men traveling alone - can accommodate up to 150 people. tagesschau.de reports that asylum seekers who have come to Germany from Poland are being accommodated centrally there. The desired duration of the procedure is a maximum of two weeks in order to improve the processes between the state authorities and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.

Internal security and civil protection

The IMK also addressed internal security in Germany. There were calls for equipping the security authorities with modern powers. Particular attention was paid to the need to develop IT applications for subsequent biometric matching that comply with data protection and AI regulations. Another urgent concern was the introduction of a three-month storage requirement to combat sexual violence against children and young people.

Another key point was civil protection. Here the ministers called for an investment volume of at least ten billion euros to strengthen modern civil defense structures by 2029. The federal government should also contribute a further 20 billion euros to ensure civil defense. The importance of fire departments and aid organizations was highlighted as indispensable.

While the Conference of Interior Ministers is working towards defined goals, the EU as a whole is faced with the challenge of managing migration flows and managing its external borders securely. europarl.europa.eu highlights that a new screening process will be implemented to improve the identification of people at the external borders and enable faster asylum procedures.

The next Interior Ministers' Conference is scheduled for December in Bremen. In the meantime, it remains to be seen how the decided measures will be implemented in practice and what impact this will have on asylum policy in Germany.