police and deportation

The police can pick you up for deportation in many places, for example from your home, at an appointment with the authorities, at work or on the street. The police sometimes also try to pick you up from family or friends if they know your address. This is because all addresses that an authority (social welfare office, immigration office, BAMF, town hall) knows are potentially dangerous. The police can come at any time of day, usually very early in the morning. It is often no longer possible to prevent deportation. You only have a few hours before you are deported by plane. All addresses that an authority (social welfare office, immigration office, BAMF, town hall) knows are potentially dangerous. The police can come at any time of the day, usually very early in the morning. Deportation can often no longer be prevented. You only have a few hours before you are deported by plane.

Police outside the flat?

Be very calm and leave the light off!
If you are the person who is to be deported, don’t open the door if you don’t want to be deported!
If there are other people living in the flat who are not afraid of being deported, they may have to talk to the police and even let them into the flat. You can hide in a flatmate’s room and lock the door.
Then inform your lawyer or supporters as soon as possible. You need urgent counselling. If the police try once, they often come back soon and try again!

Police in the accommodation / camp?

Preparation counts!

Find out who has received a negative decision from the BAMF and is at risk of deportation.
Where are good hiding places in the camp that you can get to quickly?
Which social workers or security staff are good and can help? Talk to them!
Keep up to date with deportation dates! This way you know when the police might enter the camp. Information is available on Instagram, Facebook or Telegram, for example:

The police pick you up from work:

The police need a search warrant for the office or company premises. Ask your boss or supervisor to request this warrant from the police.
You can explain to your colleagues that the police are not arresting you for a criminal offence, but that the police are often so forceful when it comes to deportations.
If your work can be a reason for a right to stay, ask your colleagues to email your employment contract, a current payslip or a letter of support to your lawyer or a supporter.

The police will pick you up from the authorities or at a roadside checkpoint:

If the risk of deportation is high, always take a friend or a supporter with you to an appointment and do not go alone. They can check for you outside the immigration office and in the clerk’s room to see if the police are there and warn you secretly.
If you cannot go to an appointment at an authority, you must cancel it. The best way to do this is to write an email to the authority on the day of the appointment. You should have an important reason (e.g. illness) and send proof (e.g. sick note from the doctor). If you miss an appointment without an excuse, the authorities can report you as a “fugitive” and put you on the wanted list. This means that the police can arrest you anywhere and you can also be taken into custody pending deportation more easily.
If the police arrest you, you have the right to call your lawyer or other supporters.

Please also report any attempted deportation to the deportation monitoring centre of the Saxon Refugee Council: