Negotiating protection for refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany – an historical overview

Countries enjoy huge discretion in the decision on whether to accept migrants and on the status of those recognised as refugees entitled to protection. However, it is not just the current debates which show that the willingness to grant protection is always the result of complex negotiating processes between individuals, collective stakeholders, (state) institutions and their various interests. The issue of who is regarded as a refugee, and under what circumstances, and to what extent protection or asylum should be granted, has been the subject of ongoing discussion since the introduction of the basic right to asylum in 1948/49. The article sets out to highlight the central elements to this discussion and to highlight points of reference to the current situation.