Published Article

Jakob Junghans, VULNER member of the German team, published the article „Der Evaluationsbericht des BAMF zu AnkER-Einrichtungen – Anlass einer Bestandsaufnahme“ (The evaluation report of the BAMF on AnkER centres – occasion for a critical review) in the journal "ZAR - Zeitschrift für Ausländerrecht und Ausländerpolitik".
 

In his analysis of the implementation of the AnkER model  for accommodation in the German federal states, Jakob critically reflects on a central component of the restructuring of the German reception system. Since 2015, the German Asylum Act has been subject to frequent and far-reaching changes that significantly affect the accommodation of protection seekers. The so-called AnkER centres (reception centres for arrival, decision-making and return) have been key for these changes. Several hundred to thousands of asylum seekers are accommodated here. A relocation to the municipalities and thus to smaller accommodations is only intended in exceptional cases or after a positive asylum decision.

In addition to the repeatedly voiced criticism of the AnkER centres, Jakob shows on the basis of the report's findings that the approach of mass accommodation itself underlies certain misconceptions about migration management. By locating an identification structure of vulnerable asylum seekers at the state asylum counseling of the BAMF, the findings of the effective identification of vulnerabilities are being ignored.

Furthermore, Jakob highlights methodological problems of the evaluation that affect the quality of the report and he identifies important research questions that would have been important for an evaluation but were omitted.

Overall, the evaluation reveals problems relating to the implementation of AnkER centres that are already of conceptual nature. This increases the vulnerability, so that compensatory state measures become necessary (for more information visit here).

The article is in German and is available for download here.