Germany’s lower house, the Bundestag, passed a bill that will allow faster deportations of rejected asylum seekers, writes DW.

The move comes as Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government seeks to deal with irregular migration and related issues.

The bill had been taken off the agenda at short notice in the last session a week before Christmas because one of the coalition partners, the Greens, had demanded changes.

It passed on votes from the three ruling parties - with a handful of Greens voting against - while the opposition Christian Democrats opposed the measure, criticizing it as ineffective.

Among some of the measures of the legislation - dubbed the Repatriation Improvement Act - is the provision for longer periods of pre-deportation custody, in a bid to give authorities more time to complete the process before having to release an individual.

The legal maximum duration of detention ahead of deportation will be extended from 10 days to 28 days.

Authorities will have more powers when it comes to conducting searches, for instance now being allowed to enter rooms of shared accommodation and not just the room of an individual being deported.