By Friederike Heine and Matthias Williams
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that a court ruling against the expulsion by border police of three Somali asylum seekers could restrict his government's migration crackdown but would not stop it.
People would continue to be turned away at the German border, he said.
A Berlin administrative court said on Monday the expulsion of the three unnamed Somalis, who were sent back to Poland after arriving at a train station in eastern Germany, was "unlawful".
It said that under the European Union's Dublin Regulation, Germany should have determined which country was responsible for processing their claim before sending them back, in a ruling that Merz's interior minister contested.
The ruling was a setback for Merz's government, which won an election in February pledging a crackdown on migration, a policy that has caused concern in neighbouring countries and been attacked by German opposition parties.
The ruling has "possibly further restricted the scope for manoeuvre here," Merz told a local government congress. "But the scope is still there. We know that we can still reject people."
"We will, of course, do this within the framework of European law, but we will also do it to protect public safety and order in our country and to relieve the burden on cities and municipalities," he said.
Migration is among German voters' biggest concerns and a backlash against new arrivals has contributed to a rise in the popularity of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which came second in February's election.
That marks a big shift since Germany's "Refugees Welcome" culture during Europe's migrant crisis in 2015 under Merz's conservative predecessor, Angela Merkel.
Merz's government issued an order in May to reject undocumented migrants, including asylum seekers, at Germany's borders.
CRITICISM FROM BOTH SIDES
Monday's ruling was seized on by critics as evidence that Merz's migration policy was unworkable. The AfD's co-chief Alice Weidel said in a press conference that Germany's asylum policy was fundamentally flawed.
"Let the AfD be in government, and then we'll abolish this whole nonsense quite quickly, and above all, we'll deport the illegal immigrants in this country, decisively and rigorously," she said.
The Left party warned Merz's government that "anyone who disregards the rights of refugees endangers the rights of everyone."
Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig, who is from Merz's coalition partner the Social Democrats - a party that has trodden a softer line on migration - said the court's ruling had to be complied with.
"It is becoming clear that it will not be easy to convince the judiciary that these rejections are lawful," she said.
Monday's ruling struck down the government's assertion that it can cite threats to public order and security in turning away asylum claims. Merz's government argues that infrastructure and the health care system are being overwhelmed.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt defended the expulsions, saying he would provide justifications for banning entry and portraying the ruling as an isolated case.
"I have made it clear several times that this is about being overwhelmed, and I see this overburdening," he told reporters.
(Reporting by Friederike Heine, Matthias Williams, Andreas Rinke, Madeline Chambers, Thomas Escritt, Alexander Ratz; Writing by Matthias Williams, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Aidan Lewis)
