Thüringen’s Quest for an Abschiebungshaftanstalt: Challenges and Prospects
Funding and Personnel Hurdles
Thüringen’s Minister for Migration and Justice, Beate Meißner (CDU), faces two significant obstacles in establishing the state’s planned Abschiebungshaftanstalt (detention facility for deportees). The first hurdle lies in securing funding for the multi-million euro project in Arnstadt. The decision rests with the state parliament, which must approve the necessary expenditures.
The second challenge involves recruiting or training additional staff for the facility. Meißner expressed hope that necessary personnel could be found quickly.
Plans and Timeline
In line with the state government’s coalition agreement, the first ten detention spaces are expected to become operational by mid-2023 in the former youth detention center in Arnstadt. By 2026, the capacity is planned to expand to 37 spaces.
The estimated costs for 2023, including personnel, amount to approximately one million euros. In 2024, with the planned conversion of the former youth detention center to a new location in a neighboring, previously vacant building, the costs are projected to rise to 3.4 million euros. The youth detention center will relocate to a building that has been empty for the past six years and was intended for open prison sentences.
Legislative Support and Opposition
In seeking parliamentary approval, Meißner urged lawmakers to rely on common sense. She highlighted incidents involving migrants who were required to leave Germany but could not be located for deportation. In Thüringen, she noted, hundreds of deportations had failed for this reason.
The state government, with 44 of 88 seats in the parliament, lacks a majority and relies on support from the opposition. The Left Party, which has entered into an agreement with the government on parliamentary conduct, holds differing views on migration policy and has criticized the chosen location.
Addressing concerns raised by the Left, Meißner emphasized that the required distance between the prison facility and the deportation detention facility would be maintained in Arnstadt. A fence will be erected between the youth detention center and the Abschiebungshaftanstalt, both of which are situated in front of the actual prison.
Capacity and Alternatives
Meißner believes that the planned capacity of 37 spaces will meet Thüringen’s needs, despite local authorities having requested a total of 111 spaces for detention of persons awaiting deportation. She pointed out that the larger state of Saxony has 58 such spaces.
Since 2014, Thüringen has not operated its own Abschiebungshaftanstalt. Since 2019, the state has used spaces in Rhineland-Palatinate, with one reserved permanently for Thüringen. The costs for this arrangement in 2022 were estimated at 180,000 euros. In 2024, Thüringen recorded 29 deportation detainees and 579 days of detention.
