Latest news with #RihamAlkousaa
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
German lower house backs plan to halt refugee family reunification
People attend a protest against a bill suspending family reunification for refugees with subsidiary protection status in front of the Reichstag building, in Berlin, Germany, June 26, 2025. Banner reads \"Family life for all! Family reunification now\". REUTERS/Riham Alkousaa People attend a protest against a bill suspending family reunification for refugees with subsidiary protection status in front of the Reichstag building, in Berlin, Germany, June 26, 2025. Banner reads \"Families belong together\". REUTERS/Riham Alkousaa Former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is applauded after addresseing the parliament on the day Germany's lower house, the Bundestag, votes on a draft bill to suspend family reunification for two years for people granted subsidiary protection status to relieve pressure on Germany's reception and integration systems, in Berlin, Germany, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks with Julia Klockner, President of the German Bundestag, before Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, votes on a draft bill to suspend family reunification for two years for people granted subsidiary protection status to relieve pressure on Germany's reception and integration systems, in Berlin, Germany, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben Members of the Bundestag vote during Germany's lower house session in Berlin, Germany, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben BERLIN - 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. 'I CAN'T SLEEP' 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. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Syrian man handed life sentence in Germany for war crimes
By Riham Alkousaa BERLIN (Reuters) -A German court sentenced a Syrian man to life in prison on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes it said he had committed as a leading member of a Hezbollah-backed militia during Syria's civil war. The Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart found the 33-year-old man guilty of leading a militia that carried out brutal attacks on Sunni Muslim civilians in his home town of Busra al-Sham in southern Syria. It did not name the man. In 2013 the militia beat three people with Kalashnikovs and handed them over to the military intelligence of Syria's then-president Bashar al-Assad, which tortured them and kept them in appalling conditions, the court found. In a 2014 raid, the group also forced a 40-year-old man and his family from their home. The man was tortured and later found on the street unable to walk due to his injuries, the court verdict said. Hezbollah, a Lebanese Iranian-backed Shi'ite group, played a major role propping up Assad during the civil war in Syria. German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. Based on these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in the last few years in Germany, which is home to almost one million Syrians. In a landmark case in 2022 a German court jailed Syrian ex-intelligence officer Anwar Raslan for life for murder, rape and crimes against humanity, in the first ever conviction for state-backed torture committed during Syria's civil war. In January this year, a high-ranking member of the Islamic State militant group, a Syrian national identified as Ossama A., was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Germany, partly for alleged involvement in a genocide against the minority Yazidi community. The trial of the man sentenced on Tuesday began last October and lasted for 42 court days. It included 30 witnesses, most of whom were Syrian nationals now living around the world, testifying over multiple sessions. The court also consulted expert witnesses and reviewed extensive image and video evidence, some of which was made available after Assad's fall from power last December, including images of detention facilities and looted homes. The court said the verdict could be appealed.
Zawya
29-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Syria signs $7bln power deal with Qatar's UCC Holding-led consortium
Syria has signed a memorandum of understanding with a consortium of international companies led by Qatar's UCC Holding to develop major power generation projects with a foreign investment valued at about $7 billion, UCC said in a statement on Thursday. The agreement involves building four combined-cycle gas turbine power plants with a total capacity of 4,000 megawatts, plus a 1,000 MW solar power plant in southern Syria. Construction is expected to begin after final agreements and financial close, and is targeted to finish within three years for the gas plants and less than two years for the solar plant. After 14 years of war, Syria's electricity sector has been suffering from severe damage to its grid and power stations, aging infrastructure, and persistent fuel shortages, generating only 1.6 gigawatts of electricity today, down from 9.5 GW before 2011. (Reporting by Riham Alkousaa. Writing by Ahmed Elimam. Editing by Mark Potter)
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Germany's SPD to decide on backing coalition with Merz
By Riham Alkousaa and Markus Wacket BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democrats will announce on Wednesday whether members have backed a treaty for a coalition with the CDU/CSU conservatives, potentially clearing the last hurdle for the formation of a new government in Europe's largest economy. The conservatives-SPD coalition was the only path to a majority government after both major parties suffered steep losses in the February federal election. They have both ruled out governing with the far-right Alternative for Germany which scored a historic second place. Over the last two weeks, SPD members have voted on the coalition treaty drawn up by leaders of both parties. Their approval, which is widely expected, would enable conservative leader Friedrich Merz to become chancellor on May 6. If SPD members vote down a coalition treaty drawn up by the leaders of both parties, it would throw German politics deeper into disarray just five months after the collapse of the last majority government. Reviving Europe's largest economy, now in its third year of contraction, is a top priority for Germany's next government, amid fears that a trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff announcements could further hurt its export-driven economy. Despite the SPD's historic low of just 16.4% of the vote, political experts say it secured key gains in the deal, leveraging the conservatives' lack of alternative paths to the chancellery for the next four years. The next coalition aims for example to invest heavily in Germany's infrastructure, raise the minimum wage to 15 euros ($17.01) per hour, keep pensions level at 48% of the current average wage and extend a cap on rents, according to the contract. The SPD also secured the coveted finance ministry, along with six other cabinet posts. The SPD's concessions on tighter migration rules and cuts to unemployment benefits as well as its failure to secure tax hikes for the wealthy have, however, drawn sharp criticism from the party's influential Jusos youth wing, whose leaders have urged members to reject the deal. A rejection by SPD members would leave few viable options: the party could seek to renegotiate the deal, although this is deemed unlikely as many conservatives feel their party already made too many concessions. Parties could consider forming a minority government although that would foster instability. Germany could hold new elections with the possibility the AfD comes in first place after surging in polls in recent weeks. Or the conservatives could reconsider their veto on forming a coalition with the AfD, also widely deemed unlikely. "A no vote would be a disaster for the entire party leadership, and they would then likely have to resign," Jun said. ($1 = 0.8819 euros) (Writing by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Sarah Marsh and Sharon Singleton)
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany halts Afghan refugee admission flights pending new government decision
By Riham Alkousaa BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's outgoing government has suspended flights for voluntary admissions of Afghan refugees for two weeks pending a decision by the next government on how to proceed, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, the future governing coalition of conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD) agreed to curb irregular migration, reflecting a mounting public backlash after several violent attacks by migrants as well as increasing pressure on housing and other infrastructure. After the Western allies' hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Germany felt a strong obligation to protect former local staff of German agencies and humanitarian organisations there, and established several programmes to resettle them along with particularly vulnerable Afghans. According to the Federal Foreign Office, a total of 36,000 people have entered Germany under such voluntary programmes, including a good 20,000 who were local staff and their families. Around 2,600 people approved for admission by Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) are currently waiting in Pakistan for a German visa and charter flights, 350 of whom are former local employees, the foreign office added. In addition to receiving admission approval, applicants must complete a visa process and security screening involving the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Police, and the Federal Criminal Police Office. The current Greens-led foreign ministry said that existing admission confirmations were legally binding and could only be revoked under specific conditions. This meant it could be difficult for the new government to cancel them regardless of who takes over the interior or foreign ministries. Germany's outgoing government arranged several resettlement flights in recent weeks, drawing criticism from conservative politicians who argued that the SPD-Greens coalition was rushing to admit new arrivals before it hands over. "For several weeks now, we've been seeing planes arrive in Germany on a daily basis. I believe that's wrong. It creates the impression that an outgoing federal government is trying to establish facts on the ground in its final days," Thorsten Frei, a parliamentary leader of the conservative bloc, said. ProAsyl, a German NGO providing legal help to asylum seekers, warned that halting the final rescue flights would leave vulnerable Afghans at risk of torture or death if returned to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. "The German government itself has determined their endangerment ... A return or deportation to Afghanistan could mean torture or even death for them," said Wiebke Judith, ProAsyl legal policy spokesperson.
