Protest on BER: Initiative calls for stopping the controversial refugee center

Protest on BER: Initiative calls for stopping the controversial refugee center

At Berlin Brandenburg (BER) Airport, it is bubbling. Today, on July 14, 2025, a large demonstration against the planned entry and departure center for refugees took place, which, according to current information from the Interior Ministry in Potsdam, is expected to open its gates in early 2028. What should initially be completed by a private investor by 2026 is now met with violent resistance among the residents and refugee organizations.

Around 100 people gathered in front of the town hall in Schönefeld to protest against the construction project. The "Deportation Center BER Prevent" initiative has clear demands: You want the development plan for the asylum center to be rejected and are vehemently campaigning to stop the project entirely. The demonstrators called for an end to deportation and asylum procedures at airports. This is a burning topic for many, because they see human dignity in danger.

a controversial construction project

The planned center, which is to act as a location for the authorities, will bundle the necessary tasks to enter and leave migrants. The country will rent the building from a private investor. The project also received criticism for the lack of public tender. The police accompanied the protest, which wanted to draw attention to the human rights implications that are accompanied by such a center.

legal situation and human rights aspects

like the Institute for Human Rights , rejection at German limits violate important human rights and European law. The ongoing controls at the internal limits could also lead to the illegality of the returns that question European asylum policy.

There are also indications from different directions that the number of asylum application in Germany in 2024 has decreased by about 30 percent compared to the previous year. This decline raises questions about the need for measures that could not only violate international agreements, but also against the human rights of asylum seekers.

The affected groups call up for the individual examination of the human rights situation of every asylum seeker to ensure that nobody is exposed to torture or inhumane treatment by deporting or rejection. A compulsion to assign a collective, as could possibly take place in a deportation center, would be a clear violation of these fundamental principles.