The Bundesrat has begun debate over a new round of asylum regulations. The Merkel government has been pressed to curb the refugee crisis as Germany looks set to see in influx in the millions.
Germany's upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, is set to decide the fate of a new set of asylum regulations on Friday. The measures, which passed the lower house Bundestag by a wide margin the day before, has garnered significant criticism from opposition parties.
Pressure has been mounting on Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government to deal more strictly with the refugee crisis.
Although Merkel initially adopted an open-door policy, especially towards Syrians fleeing war in their homeland, a number of developments have forced Berlin to reconsider its policies. They include a string of sexual assaults, many perpetrated by migrant men in the city of Cologne on New Year's Eve, a significant number of attacks on occupied or planned refugees homes and a newspaper report suggesting Germany could receive up to 3.6 million refugees by 2020.
Merkel had already worked on reducing the number of asylum seekers in Germany by having North African countries such as Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria declared "safe countries of origin."
The so-called "Second Asylum Package" follows months of heated debate. New measures include setting up fast-track asylum processing centers, which would decide the fate of certain groups of migrants in as little at three weeks. This would apply to those from "safe" countries or those who have been uncooperative with authorities.
New regulations also make it more difficult to avoid deportation for medical reasons.
