Illegal migrants will be banned from changing their gender in Germany to stop them trying to avoid deportation
- Change in the gender law has sparked fears of migrants exploiting loophole
- READ: German law to allow people to change gender without medical diagnosis
Illegal migrants living in Germany will be banned from changing their gender to stop them trying to avoid deportation.
The move comes as Olaf Scholz’s government is currently amending the country’s laws to make it easier for people to legally change their name and gender.
This will bring to end decade-old rules that require people who wish to change to obtain expert assessments and a court’s authorisation.
This law change, however, is feared to have offered a loophole to migrants with no legal right to reside in Germany. In changing their name or gender they are successfully able to remain under the radar of immigration authorities.
A modification in the ‘self-determination’ law has now been introduced by the interior ministry which will prohibit the changing of gender for anyone who has been told they will be deported.
Illegal migrants living in Germany will be banned from changing their gender to stop them trying to avoid deportation. Pictured is a file image of people suspected to be migrants
Olaf Scholz’s government is currently amending the country’s laws to make it easier for people to legally change their name and gender
The new bill has replaced the ‘transsexual law,’ which took effect in 1981, that required individuals to obtain assessments from two experts — such as physicians — whose training and experience make them ‘sufficiently familiar with the particular problems of transsexualism’ and then a court decision to change the gender on official documents.
It has been a long and arduous battle to make changes to the law.
‘Transgender people have been affected by discrimination and undignified treatment for far too long — we will finally put this condition behind us,’ said Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, who presented the proposal together with the family minister.
The new government proposal declares that for children under the age of 14, legal guardians have to submit the declaration of change, while teenagers aged 14 and older should be able to submit the declaration of change themselves — but it should include the support of their custodians.
Objections were raised by the interior ministry and as a result slowed down the progress by Scholz’s cabinet to pass the ‘self-determination law’. It therefore could not be completed by its proposed June deadline or before parliament’s summer recess.
In modifying the rule on illegal migrants facing deportation, the law can now be passed.
Should an individual who has been informed of their removal from the country approach a registry office, administration staff will now be required to inform Germany’s national crime unit and intelligence agency.
The interior ministry also expressed fears that criminals will use this loophole to evade justice.
The new law bans police and other law enforcement agencies to use a person’s ‘dead name’ which they used before transitioning.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser allegedly insisted that both the old and new name should be passed on to law enforcement bodies to prevent criminals misusing the law.
The self-determination law was regarded as an opportunity for the ministers from the three-party coalition to show their liberal values and unity.
It was among the first laws the new German government announced when it took over.
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