German authorities have deported three times as many asylum seekers to other European countries this year as during 2017, Interior Ministry document showed on Tuesday.
The EU’s so-called Dublin regulation, which stipulates that migrants must be deported to the first European country they registered in, was suspended at the height of the refugee crisis in 2015.
However, it has been incrementally reinstated over the past three years.
Responding to an information request from the far-left Die Linke party, the Interior Ministry said that a total of 485 people had been deported to other European countries on 17 deportation flights so far in 2018.
In 2017, that figure stood at 153 people deported on seven deportation flights, while in 2016, only 26 people were deported on two deportation flights.
Twelve of the 17 deportation flights carried out so far this year took migrants to Italy, which has seen a large refugee influx due to its proximity to Libya.
Ulla Jelpke, a spokeswoman for Die Linke’s parliamentary group, condemned the deportations to Italy.
Jelpke said that many refugees have to live on the street there without the prospect of adequate housing and care and without the prospect of a fair asylum procedure.
The Dublin regulation includes EU countries, as well as non-members such as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.