Overview
- First Mayor Peter Tschentscher alleges that Berlin’s political directive barred police assistance for a July 3 transfer of three to four Afghan converts from a Berlin-Steglitz church to Sweden under the Dublin Regulation.
- Regierender Bürgermeister Kai Wegner and Interior Senator Iris Spranger issued a rare joint statement rejecting the accusations and confirming they offered police support outside the church premises.
- The evangelical Dreieinigkeits-Gemeinde continues to shelter the Afghan converts, whose hardship applications were reviewed and rejected by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
- The dispute highlights growing friction between traditional church asylum protections from a 2015 agreement and Germany’s obligations under EU return rules.
- Both senates now await possible judicial or federal intervention as the migrants remain in limbo and migration policy becomes a flashpoint ahead of national elections.