EU, US citizens face deportation from Germany

Berlin authorities want to deport four foreign nationals residing legally in Germany who, according to the police, were involved in "violent" pro-Palestinian protests in Berlin.

Three of those involved are European Union (EU) citizens — two from Ireland, one from Poland — and the fourth person is a US citizen. The news platform The Intercept was the first to report on the deportation plans.

All four received notifications from the Berlin state immigration office in mid-March terminating their residency status in Germany. The Berlin Senate Department for Internal Affairs confirmed this to DW, saying that the decisions were "in connection with the incidents at the Freie Universität [FU] Berlin on October 17, 2024."

The Berlin Senate Administration alleges that on that day a group of masked people "violently" entered a university building, which "resulted in significant damage to property inside the building, including graffiti relating to the 'Israel-Palestine complex,' as well as other criminal acts." The slogans "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "Free Gaza" and the red triangle symbol were painted on the walls. While the red triangle symbol has other historical uses in Germany, and is used in various ways relating to Palestinian and Arab history, the Interior Ministry considers it in the context of Israel and the Palestinian territories to be a symbol of Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the German government.

In order to expel the three EU citizens in question, they were deprived of their EU right to freedom of movement, which normally allows them to stay in Germany.

This was confirmed to DW by lawyer Alexander Gorski.

"These orders were issued based on the several criminal charges against our clients. However, there have been no criminal convictions," emphasized Gorski, who represents two of the four defendants. He has still not been given access to the criminal files relating to the incident at the FU.

Discord over protests, university campus occupations

The four people involved are also said to have taken part in other pro-Palestinian rallies in the wake of the October 7, 2023, terror attacks during which Hamas invaded Israel, and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war. Many demonstrators want to protest the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza and draw attention to the suffering of the civilian population in the Palestinian territory.

Activists have criticized Germany in particular for disproportionately harsh treatment and restrictions on freedom of expression. Activist and writer Yasmeen Daher said in an interview with the Tageszeitung newspaper that many media outlets had simply portrayed all the demonstrators as antisemites.

Amnesty International has also been critical of German authorities' actions. The rights group said that prohibiting the slogan "From the river to the sea" and the red triangle with criminal consequences was going too far. They believe that both demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinians and are not directly linked to Hamas.

German politicians interpret the slogan "From the river to the sea" as expressing a call for the destruction of Israel, whereas courts have repeatedly ruled it a peaceful expression of solidarity and the desire for equal rights for everyone in the region.

German authorities often justify their actions by claiming that they are trying to stem what is known as modern "Israel-oriented antisemitism." Berlin's interior senator, Iris Spranger, alleged that there is a "danger of further radicalization" of a small, violent group of pro-Palestinian activists.

In a public statement, the FU leadership said of the October 17 events on its campus: "The individuals were extremely violent and attacked employees physically and threatened them verbally."

The police broke up the attempted occupation and arrested four people. They were charged with criminal offenses including breach of the peace.

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner was outspoken in his condemnation: "The storming of Freie Universität by so-called pro-Palestinian activists shows once again that they are not interested in dialogue, instead all they are interested in is property damage, violence and hatred."

But shortly after the incident, the FU Berlin's General Student Committee published its own report, complaining that the police themselves were unwilling to engage in dialogue and were too harsh.

What exactly the four people who now face deportation were doing that day has not yet been established in court. One of the defendants has already been acquitted. The defendant had been accused of calling a police officer a "fascist." Insulting a police officer is a criminal offense in Germany.

Deportation order apparently based on 'Germany's reason of state'

Given that there are no criminal convictions in any of the four cases, could the accused still be deported? According to lawyer Gorski, his clients are being accused of "indirectly supporting Hamas and spreading antisemitism." However, according to The Intercept, there is still no concrete evidence of this.

Instead, in a unique move, the deportation order apparently made reference to "Germany's reason of state."  Politicians in Germany use this term to contend that Israel's security and existence are among the fundamental duties of the German state. However, the principle neither has a legal basis, nor is it enshrined in the constitution.

All four individuals are bringing an action before the Berlin Administrative Court challenging the deportation orders, with a deadline of April 21. Currently, they are still residing in Berlin.

EU freedom of movement at stake

According to the European Union Charter, citizens of the member states are allowed to settle in other member countries. This freedom of movement gives EU citizens special protection. But that freedom can be restricted if there is a "sufficiently serious threat to public order or security" in the host country. The decisive factor here is the conduct of the individual EU citizen.

According to EU law, the hurdles for expulsion are therefore high. This is also reflected in the case law of the European Court of Justice. It interprets the grounds for termination of residence quite narrowly, explained Matthias Goldmann, Professor of International Law at EBS University in Wiesbaden, in the DW podcast "Inside Europe." Especially when it comes to a threat to public order.

"The prerequisite for this is a conviction for a criminal act," Goldmann said.

However, according to their lawyer, the individuals have not been convicted of any crimes as of yet.

The Berlin daily newspaper Tagesspiegel reported that there were differences of opinion among Berlin authorities about the deportation. According to the report, senior staff at the responsible State Office for Immigration expressed concerns, saying that the allegations were not sufficient to reach a threshold necessary to revoke the EU freedom of movement.

Lawyer Gorski agrees. He says that the deportations constitute "grossly unlawful conduct" and does not believe that they will stand up in court. In his opinion, immigration law in this case "is being used as an instrument to suppress social movements and in particular the pro-Palestinian movement."

He also drew parallels with the US, where foreign students who were allegedly involved in pro-Palestinian protests have recently had their visas revoked. One such case was that of a doctoral student who was taken into custody allegedly due to an article published in a student newspaper.

A wider context

Legal scholar Matthias Goldmann also placed the expulsions in a wider context and criticized the Berlin state government. 

"This government is definitely the most problematic in Germany when it comes to the fight against those showing solidarity with Palestine," he said. "You can see this in the number of arrests and bans of demonstrations."

In his opinion, this is also "about a fight against certain political views" in connection with the war in Gaza and the Middle East conflict. Goldmann said that the accusation of antisemitism is being used here as a pretext to dismantle the protections afforded by the rule of law.

This article was originally written in German.

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