After the more restrictive asylum law took effect on July 1, 1993, the number of rejected asylum petitions increased dramatically – in 1993, the number of rejected petitions was more than three times higher than in 1992. According to the new regulation, asylum seekers from countries were there was no clear evidence of persecution, and those who had entered Germany though EU member states or so-called safe third states, were excluded from the right to asylum. This photo shows a group of rejected asylum seekers from Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine at the Frankfurt airport immediately before their deportation. Prior to this, they had been in custody pending deportation in the Hanover prison.