“Coesfelder List”: Almost all municipalities refused help with deportations
The Coesfeld Central Immigration Office offered 73 municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia support with deportation preparations. However, the response was extremely low.
Quick Look
- The Central Immigration Office in Coesfeld offered help with deportation preparations to 73 NRW municipalities, including Cologne.
- According to a state paper, almost all cities rejected the offer; only 143 requests for administrative assistance were received.
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Why It Matters
The Central Immigration Office in Coesfeld had sent lists of refugees from Western Balkan states to 73 municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The so-called “Coesfelder List” affects not only the city of Cologne, but a total of 73 municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Central Immigration Office (ZAB) Coesfeld had provided their immigration authorities with lists of refugees from Western Balkan states. As a state government paper shows, only four municipalities accepted the help offered with deportation preparations.
In the response from the Refugee Ministry to a small inquiry from the FDP it is stated that 18 immigration authorities did not respond to the email from Coesfeld. In two cases it is unclear whether the email with the respective list even arrived. “The other immigration authorities contacted stated that they did not need the offer of support or would process the relevant procedures independently,” says the as yet unpublished paper that is available to the dpa.
The city of Cologne also wanted to take care of things themselves. According to her own information, she received a list of 471 names for whom the Coesfeld authority had offered help in obtaining replacement passport papers. However, the administration rejected this support to prepare for deportations. Research by the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” revealed that there were numerous criminals on the list.
1,245 names - but only 143 requests for administrative assistance
As can be seen from the new state parliament paper from the ministry of Verena Schäffer (Greens), a total of 1,245 data sets were sent from Coesfeld - around 800 that did not concern Cologne, but other local authorities. In total, there were only 143 requests for administrative assistance to obtain replacement passport papers, and “53 people have now been repatriated”.
Alexander Steffen, integration policy spokesman for the FDP state parliamentary group, told the dpa: “The state government confirms: Cologne is not an isolated case.” Steffen called for consequences for the complicated structures: “Full responsibility for deportations lies with the state, municipalities only care about people with a real right to stay.”
Open Questions
- Why did so many municipalities ignore the offer of help?
- How will procedures in municipalities be coordinated in the future?
