Latest news with #AlexanderDobrindt
Arab News
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
German lawmakers vote to suspend family reunions for many migrants
BERLIN: German lawmakers voted Friday to suspend family reunions for many migrants, part of a drive by the new conservative-led government for a tougher approach to migration. Parliament's lower house voted 444-135 to suspend the possibility of family reunions for two years for migrants who have 'subsidiary protection,' a status that falls short of asylum. At the end of March, more than 388,000 people living in Germany had the status, which was granted to many people fleeing Syria's civil war. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany's election in February. Just after he took office in early May, the government stationed more police at the border and said some asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe's biggest economy would be turned away. The bill approved Friday is the first legislation on migration since Merz took office. It will suspend rules dating to 2018 that allowed up to 1,000 close relatives per month to join the migrants granted limited protection, with authorities making case-by-case decisions on humanitarian grounds rather than granting an automatic right for reunions. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told lawmakers that the change would result in 12,000 fewer people being able to come to Germany each year and 'break a business model' for smugglers. People often know they won't get full recognition as refugees, 'but they set off for Germany because it is known that, even without asylum recognition ... you can have your family follow,' Dobrindt said. 'That is a significant pull effect and we are removing this pull effect today.' Dobrindt said 'our country's capacity for integration simply has a limit.' Liberal opposition lawmakers decried the government's approach. Marcel Emmerich, of the Greens, described the legislation as 'an attack on the core of every society, on a truly central value — the family.' 'Anyone who wants integration must bring families together,' he said. The far-right, anti-migration Alternative for Germany described the move as a very small step in the right direction. German governments have for years faced pressure to curb migration as shelters across the country filled up. The administration of Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz, already had taken some measures including the introduction of checks on all Germany's borders. Asylum applications declined from 329,120 in 2023 to 229,751 last year and have continued to fall this year.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
German lawmakers vote to suspend family reunions for many migrants
BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers voted Friday to suspend family reunions for many migrants, part of a drive by the new conservative-led government for a tougher approach to migration. Parliament's lower house voted 444-135 to suspend the possibility of family reunions for two years for migrants who have 'subsidiary protection,' a status that falls short of asylum. At the end of March, more than 388,000 people living in Germany had the status, which was granted to many people fleeing Syria's civil war. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany's election in February. Just after he took office in early May, the government stationed more police at the border and said some asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe's biggest economy would be turned away. The bill approved Friday is the first legislation on migration since Merz took office. It will suspend rules dating to 2018 that allowed up to 1,000 close relatives per month to join the migrants granted limited protection, with authorities making case-by-case decisions on humanitarian grounds rather than granting an automatic right for reunions. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told lawmakers that the change would result in 12,000 fewer people being able to come to Germany each year and 'break a business model' for smugglers. People often know they won't get full recognition as refugees, 'but they set off for Germany because it is known that, even without asylum recognition ... you can have your family follow," Dobrindt said. "That is a significant pull effect and we are removing this pull effect today.' Dobrindt said 'our country's capacity for integration simply has a limit.' Liberal opposition lawmakers decried the government's approach. Marcel Emmerich, of the Greens, described the legislation as 'an attack on the core of every society, on a truly central value — the family.' 'Anyone who wants integration must bring families together,' he said. The far-right, anti-migration Alternative for Germany described the move as a very small step in the right direction. German governments have for years faced pressure to curb migration as shelters across the country filled up. The administration of Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz, already had taken some measures including the introduction of checks on all Germany's borders. Asylum applications declined from 329,120 in 2023 to 229,751 last year and have continued to fall this year.
Reuters
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
German lower house backs plan to halt refugee family reunification
BERLIN, June 27 (Reuters) - Germany's Bundestag lower house passed a bill on Friday to suspend family reunification for migrants who do not qualify for full refugee status, fulfilling a conservative election pledge to curb migration and ease pressure on integration systems. Migration was a pivotal issue in February's federal election, where the far-right nativist Alternative for Germany secured a historic second place with its anti-migration platform. Germany currently hosts about 388,000 refugees with "subsidiary protection status", a form of international protection granted to people who do not qualify as refugees but who still face a real risk of serious harm if returned to their home country. The majority of those holding this status are Syrians. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the new bill was necessary because Germany's integration capacity, especially in education, childcare and housing, had reached its limit. "Immigration must have limits, and we are reflecting that politically," he told the Bundestag during a heated debate ahead of Friday's vote. Some 444 lawmakers supporting the bill, while 135 voted against it. The upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, which represents Germany's federal states, is expected to approve the bill in July, paving the way for it to become law. Dobrindt said suspending family reunification would help deter illegal migration by disrupting smuggling networks, which often rely on sending one family member ahead to later bring others. Berlin initially suspended family reunification for this group in 2016, amid a surge of over 1 million arrivals when then-Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the border for those fleeing war and prosecution in the Middle East and beyond. It was partially reinstated in 2018, capped at 1,000 visas per month. Tareq Alaows, refugee policy spokesperson for the pro-immigration advocacy group Pro Asyl, said the group was reviewing the bill's constitutionality and will support legal action for affected individuals if rights violations are found. Ahmad Shikh Ali fled to Germany from Aleppo two-and-a-half years ago, and his family, still stuck in Turkey, had only two cases ahead of them in the reunification queue to be processed and granted a visa to Germany before this law was introduced. "Since I learned of this decision, I can't sleep, I can't get on with my life," Shikh Ali said, breaking into tears in front of the German parliament on Thursday where he gathered with dozens of other refugees protesting the law. "My son was crawling when I left him, he is walking now," he said, holding a blurry photo of his 3-year-old son. He said returning to Syria - where an Islamist government has taken power following the fall of veteran leader Bashar al-Assad last December - was not an option as the security situation remained unstable. At the migration office in the city of Hanover where Shikh Ali lives, he was told that changing his status after finding full-time employment was not possible. "I can't go back to Syria, I can't go back to Turkey, I don't have any options, this is what suffocates me," he said.
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
German lawmakers vote to suspend family reunions for many migrants
German lawmakers voted Friday to suspend family reunions for many migrants, part of a drive by the new conservative-led government for a tougher approach to migration. Parliament 's lower house voted 444-135 to suspend the possibility of family reunions for two years for migrants who have 'subsidiary protection,' a status that falls short of asylum. At the end of March, more than 388,000 people living in Germany had the status, which was granted to many people fleeing Syria 's civil war. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany's election in February. Just after he took office in early May, the government stationed more police at the border and said some asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe's biggest economy would be turned away. The bill approved Friday is the first legislation on migration since Merz took office. It will suspend rules dating to 2018 that allowed up to 1,000 close relatives per month to join the migrants granted limited protection, with authorities making case-by-case decisions on humanitarian grounds rather than granting an automatic right for reunions. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told lawmakers that the change would result in 12,000 fewer people being able to come to Germany each year and 'break a business model' for smugglers. People often know they won't get full recognition as refugees, 'but they set off for Germany because it is known that, even without asylum recognition ... you can have your family follow," Dobrindt said. "That is a significant pull effect and we are removing this pull effect today.' Dobrindt said 'our country's capacity for integration simply has a limit.' Liberal opposition lawmakers decried the government's approach. Marcel Emmerich, of the Greens, described the legislation as 'an attack on the core of every society, on a truly central value — the family.' 'Anyone who wants integration must bring families together,' he said. The far-right, anti-migration Alternative for Germany described the move as a very small step in the right direction. German governments have for years faced pressure to curb migration as shelters across the country filled up. The administration of Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz, already had taken some measures including the introduction of checks on all Germany's borders. Asylum applications declined from 329,120 in 2023 to 229,751 last year and have continued to fall this year.
DW
14 hours ago
- Politics
- DW
Germany updates: Lawmakers curb refugee family reunification – DW – 06/27/2025
Lawmakers have voted to suspend family reunification rights for refugees who do not hold full asylum status. Meanwhile, as Germany faces labor shortages, figures show much of its workforce is untapped. DW has the parliament has just voted to put a hold on family reunifications for refugees without full asylum status—a move that's part of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's push to tighten immigration rules. The new law, passed Friday in the Bundestag, means refugees with what's known as "subsidiary protection" won't be able to bring close family members to Germany for the next two years. In other news, a large pool of the German labor market isn't being used, according to recent data, at a time when business groups are bemoaning a lack of available staff. Childcare shortages are cited as one reason, especially for women, while health concerns were the main issue that men listed as obstructing their path to German Bundestag has approved a two-year suspension of family reunification visas for certain migrants, passing the measure by a wide margin on Friday. The bill, introduced by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), applies to relatives of people living in Germany without recognized asylum status. It was adopted with 444 votes in favor and 135 against. The far-right AfD had announced in advance that it would support the proposal from the conservative-Social Democrat coalition. Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has defended the proposed suspension of family reunification for refugees with subsidiary protection status, just ahead of a Bundestag vote. Speaking during Friday's parliamentary debate, Dobrindt — from Bavaria's conservative CSU party — said the measure would reduce immigration by 12,000 people annually and disrupt criminal networks and smugglers' business models. Critics of the renewed suspension point to the constitutional protection of family life and warn of negative consequences for integration. Supporters of it, meanwhile, argue that many municipalities have reached their intake limits. Also in the Bundestag today, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is pushing to ban public funding for NGOs that it claims act as political allies of other parties. They argue the move about protecting state neutrality — but critics see it as a crackdown on civil society and dissent. Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has defended calls for a legal mechanism to allow military conscription while insisting that voluntary service remains the current priority. Speaking to the DPA news agency ahead of a national conference of his Social Democratic Party (SPD), Pistorius emphasized that his position differs from that of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, which governs in coalition with the SPD. The conservatives are pressing for a swift return to mandatory military service. The minister argued that drafting soldiers is not currently feasible due to insufficient barracks and training facilities, despite increased infrastructure investment in recent years. For the time being, he said, the number of volunteers is sufficient. However, Pistorius rejected outright opposition to a draft. "I also oppose the voices that believe we must exclude any form of obligation," he said. He noted that it is not possible to predict when mandatory conscription might be needed, but said the key issue is legal preparedness. "The decisive factor is that the mechanism is enshrined in the law," he said. "From the very beginning, it was important to me that we do not introduce the obligation lightly—and certainly not unilaterally. The draft legislation therefore stipulates that such a step would require the approval of both the Cabinet and the Bundestag." "To be clear: if we can ensure our security with voluntary service, then that is what we will stick to," he said. Conscription was suspended in 2011 but remains enshrined in the German constitution. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Some 3.1 million people in Germany want to work but are not actively seeking jobs or immediately available for employment, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office. These individuals, aged 15 to 74, are part of what statisticians refer to as the "hidden reserve" of the labor market. While not currently participating in the workforce, they express a desire for paid employment. Nearly 1.8 million of those counted in the 2024 were considered to be relatively far removed from active working life, the office in Wiesbaden reported. Among them, 930,000 are not looking for work because they believe no suitable position is available. For another 380,000, responsibilities such as caregiving duties are the main barrier. Amongwomen aged 25 to 59, 31.3% said they could not take up work because of caregiving responsibilities. For men in the same age group, health problems were the leading reason for inactivity, affecting 35.5%. This group does not include officially unemployed individuals, who are available to the labor market. That number was around 1.5 million in 2024. Combined, the unused labor potential in Germany for the year totaled approximately 4.6 million people. At the same time, business groups say labor shortages — particularly in skilled roles — are part of a structural crisis that is causing Germany to lag behind its international competitors. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video from DW's newsroom in a rainy but warm Bonn, and welcome to DW's coverage of developments in Germany on Friday, June 27 About 3.1 million people in Germany want to work but, for one reason or another, haven't been actively job hunting or aren't ready to start right away, new figures show. This group doesn't include officially unemployed individuals who are available to the labor market. Combined, the unused labor potential in Germany for the year totaled approximately 4.6 million people. Meanwhile, Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is once again floating the idea of bringing back a legal framework for conscription — but he's keen to stress that this doesn't mean a return to mandatory military service just yet. For all of the latest news from Germany, stay tuned here.
