Place of detention

Pre-removal detention centres

Detention pending removal is usually carried out in specialised detention facilities. Since July 2014, when the CJEU ruled that detention for the purpose of removal of illegally staying third-country nationals has to be carried out in specialised detention facilities in all Federal States of Germany,^[1] most Federal States which did not have specialised facilities before announced that the necessary institutions would be established; deportees were sent to facilities in other Federal States in the meantime. By the end of 2025, removal detention is still not available as a dedicated facility in every Federal State; several Länder rely on jointly used facilities, and some locations have been temporarily unavailable due to renovation/operational interruptions (see below).

Between August 2019 and June 2022, due to a temporary change in the law, detention pending removal could also be carried out in regular prisons. Since 1 July 2022 and following a CJEU ruling, the wording of the provision has changed back to: ‘As a rule, detention pending removal is to be carried out in specialised detention facilities.’^[2]

As of December 2025, facilities for detention and custody pending removal existed in twelve Federal States. In Thuringia, removal detention capacity was reintroduced in 2025 at the JVA Arnstadt site (near Erfurt), initially with 10 places and with plans to expand to up to 37 places.[3] The facility in Berlin, previously closed for refurbishment, was reopened in November 2025.[4]

Plans for a combined facility, which nevertheless take into account the separation of prisoners and pre-removal detainees, were announced in Bavaria during the summer of 2018. According to media reports, both detention facilities are to be built on the same site in the town of Passau. However, the facility for detention pending removal will be separated from the other buildings by a wall and it will be separately accessible from the outside.^[5] The opening of the facility is planned for 2027.^[6] To this day, several pre-removal detention centres are former prisons turned into specialised facilities e.g. Büren in North Rhine-Westphalia, Eichstätt and Erding in Bavaria and Darmstadt-Eberstadt in Hesse.

The Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt announced in October 2022 that it was planning to open a detention facility close to an existing prison in Volkstedt with an expected opening date at the end of 2026.[7]

Source: Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/14042, 11 December 2024, available in German here.

As part of the CEAS adaptation, the National Implementation Plan foresees the establishment of dedicated facilities for the conduct of the asylum border procedure (Asylgrenzverfahren), in which applicants are held under conditions that restrict their freedom of movement. The EU Commission has set an indicative capacity requirement for Germany of 374 places for the border procedure; Germany is required to notify the Commission of the designated facility locations by April 2026. The NIP confirms that a site concept (Standortkonzept) must first be developed, taking into account the reception and protection needs of vulnerable groups, and that facilities must be equipped and staff trained. The NIP identifies this as one of the most significant sources of financial costs of the CEAS reform for the states, without being able to provide precise figures at this stage. As of 31 December 2025, no site decisions had been publicly announced and the necessary legislative framework (§ 18a AsylG-E) had not yet entered into force.

Other types of detention facilities

Reopened in November 2025 after refurbishment, the Federal State of Berlin has established a specialised facility for ‘persons posing a risk’ only (‘Gefährder’, i.e., terrorist suspects) with a capacity of 10 places.[8]

Persons in custody pending removal under Section 62b of the Residence Act (Ausreisegewahrsam) are usually detained in general detention facilities. However, not all Federal States differentiate between pre-removal detention and custody in available statistics.^[9] The Federal States of Berlin and Brandenburg run a facility for custody with 20 places at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport, according to press reports (BER, see above).^[10] As of December 2022, planning for the new ‘arrival and departure centre’ at the Berlin airport includes 48 places for custody pending departure (see Airport detention facilities). A similar facility with 25 places of custody pending departure was planned at the airport of Düsseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia) but will ultimately be built in Mönchengladbach.^[11] The custody facility at Hamburg airport was closed on 31 December 2022.[12]

 Airport detention facilities

Asylum applicants subject to the airport procedure are de facto detained in facilities near the airport, as their stay is not legally considered to be deprivation of liberty. Since such facilities are managed by the different Federal States, they can differ in typology and even in name.^[13]

For example, the airport detention facility at Frankfurt Airport, located in the ‘Cargo City Süd’, a large complex of buildings in a restricted area near the airport, is entitled ‘initial reception centre’ (Erstaufnahmeeinrichtung). The centre has a maximum capacity of 105 places. On the other hand, the facility at Munich Airport is located in the ‘visitors’ park’ (Besucherpark) of the airport and its denomination is ‘combined transit and detention facility’ (Kombinierte Transit- und Abschiebungshafteinrichtung).^[14] The new facility opened in January 2022 and hosts both pre-removal detention (22 places) and the ‘transit centre’ for persons subject to the airport procedure (29 places).^[15] The new airport of Berlin and Brandenburg (BER) currently hosts a ‘reception centre’ (Aufnahmeeinrichtung) that includes a facility to host asylum seekers during the airport procedure, a facility for custody pending departure, as well as a ‘transit facility’ for persons subject to a refusal of entry.[16] The opening of a new ‘arrival and departure centre’ is foreseen for 2026.[17] The centre is to include facilities to carry out the airport procedure (60 places are planned as of December 2022) but also facilities and personnel from other authorities which are involved in the return procedure such as the Federal Police, local courts, the public prosecutor’s office and the municipal authority.^[18] The plans also include facilities for custody pending removal. Original plans foresaw a total of 64 such places, but this was reduced to 48 after controversies within the Brandenburg government, with the Greens criticising that the facility was oversized compared to actual needs.^[19]

^[1] CJEU, Joined Cases C-473/13 and C-514/13 Bero v Regierungspraesidium Kassel & Bouzalmane v Kreisverwaltung Kleve, Judgment of 17 July 2014, available at: https://bit.ly/3TyTz9M.

^[2] Article 6 of the ‘Second Act for an improved enforcement of the obligation to leave the country’; AIDA, Country report: Germany – Update on the year 2024, June 2025, available here, 216.

[3] mdr, ‘Abschiebehaft für bis zu 37 Menschen: Thüringer Anstalt nimmt Betrieb auf‘, 11 August 2025, available in German here.

[4] rbb24, ‘Berliner Abschiebehaftanstalt für Gefährder in Lichtenrade wiedereröffnet’, 17 December 2025, available in German here.

^[5] Passauer Neue Presse, ‚JVA Passau wird mit Neubau eigenständig‘, 3 August 2018, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3cG3bH6.

^[6] Passauer Neue Presse, ‘JVA-Neubau in Passau: Kostensteigerung um 40 Millionen’, 13 March 2024, available in German here.

[7] Die Zeit, ‘Abschiebehaft in Volkstedt soll Ende 2026 fertig sein‘, 8 June 2025, available in German here.

[8] rbb24, ‘Berliner Abschiebehaftanstalt für Gefährder in Lichtenrade wiedereröffnet’, 17 December 2025, available in German here.

^[9] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 19/31669, 4 August 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/4awfTGM.

^[10] Rbb.de, BER-Ausreisegewahrsam bekommt ein Viertel weniger Plätze, 22 December 2022, available in German at: http://bit.ly/3HrlJwJ.

^[11] n-tv, ‘Ort für zweites Abschiebegefängnis in NRW steht fest’, 11 March 2024, available in German here.

[12] Senate of Hamburg, Reply to parliamentary question by Dr. Carola Ensslen, 22/10712, 27 January 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/490uvwT, 6.

^[13] ECRE, Airport procedures in Germany Gaps in quality and compliance with guarantees, April 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2QgOmAH.

^[14] Bayerisches Landesamt für Asyl und Rückführungen, Kombinierte Transit- und Abschiebungshafteinrichtung, available in German at: http://bit.ly/3wrzdCf.

^[15] Bayerisches Landesamt für Asyl und Rückführungen, Kombinierte Transit- und Abschiebungshafteinrichtung, available in German at: http://bit.ly/3wrzdCf.

[16] Flüchtlingsrat Brandenburg, Abschiebehaft am Flughafen BER, 22 May 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3IuIik5.

[17] rbb24, ‘Flughafen BER: Bund plant eigenes Gebäude für Asylzentrum’, 17 July 2024, available in German here.

^[18] Der Tagesspiegel, Planung für Behördenzentrum am BER: Brandenburgs Innenminister streicht Plätze im Ausreisegewahrsam zusammen, 22 December 2022, available in German at: http://bit.ly/3WwMwMl; Information provided by the BAMF, 10 March 2022.

^[19] Der Tagesspiegel, Planung für Behördenzentrum am BER: Brandenburgs Innenminister streicht Plätze im Ausreisegewahrsam zusammen, 22 December 2022, available in German at: http://bit.ly/3WwMwMl.