Plane hangar to host deportation jail: report

The Bavarian state government wants to build a deportation and detention center in Air Berlin's old hangar at Munich Airport, German news magazine Spiegel reported on Saturday.

The reported plans come as Bavaria's ruling CSU party present a hard-line stance on refugees ahead of a state election in October.

Read more: How do deportations work in Germany?

The planned center

According to the report:

• the hangar of the bankrupt Air Berlin will be converted into a deportation prison.
• the center will also hold people who have applied for asylum in another European Union country and have already been rejected there.
• Bavaria's Interior Ministry is still developing the "necessary conceptual foundations" to hold people long enough to establish their identity, possibly exceeding the maximum legal detention period.

Read more: Bavaria unveils its own Center for Asylum and Deportation

Push for deportation: The CSU has been pressuring their national coalition partners to allow them greater control over deportation. To this end it has opened a series of trial "anchor" centers meant to speed up the processing and eventual deportation of asylum-seekers.

Spare hangar: The airport real estate opened up after the buyout of an insolvent Air Berlin by Lufthansa last year.

Needs backing of EU partners: For deportations of asylum-seekers to EU nations where they are registered, the support of those nations is still required. This is subject to ongoing negotiations.

aw/cmk (KNA)

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