Germany plans to fast-track repatriation of failed asylum seekers

Germany is to speed up the repatriation of failed asylum seekers, after the governing coalition resolved a rift on the issue.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said five special centres would handle the applications of asylum-seekers deemed to have little chance of staying.

The five special centres would hold migrants from countries deemed safe; those barred from re-entering Germany; and those refusing to co-operate.

In an accelerated asylum process, cases could be heard in a week, not months, and appeals would take only a further two weeks. Most could expect to be deported.

Germany says it expects to receive at least 800,000 asylum seekers this year. Earlier, the European Commission said that three million migrants were likely to arrive in Europe by the end of 2017.