BERLIN: Germany’s ruling coalition on Monday agreed to spend €6 billion ($US6.68 billion) more on asylum seekers and to tighten rules for those seeking sanctuary in Germany, as the influx of migrants is expected to set a post-World War II record this year.
The leaders of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling conservative parties and the Social Democrats agreed during an overnight meeting in Berlin that the government will provide €3 billion for measures such as additional housing and payouts for next year, and give local governments another €3 billion more to cover migrant-related costs.
They also agreed to reduce cash handouts to asylum seekers and declare more Western Balkan countries as “safe countries of origin,” a legal measure that will greatly reduce the number of people from there eligible for asylum.
The parties proposed to change the law and declare Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro as safe countries, allowing migrants from there to be deported back much faster than at present
Germany’s upper house of parliament has yet to approve this legal change, which will require agreement from the opposition.
People from the Western Balkans, mainly economic migrants, made up about 46 per cent of Germany’s total asylum claims in the first half of the year. Only between 0.1 per cent to 0.2 per cent of claims from the West Balkan countries get accepted in Germany, according to the government, but the in-depth review of such applications is lengthy and has been a drain on Germany’s capacity to review applications from migrants with better prospects of being granted asylum.
A key part of the coalition agreement is also to reduce financial incentives for migrants. They agreed to cut cash handouts for newly arriving migrants and replace them where possible with aid in kind. Advanced payouts will be limited to one month compared with up to six months at present.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has said cash handouts might be an incentive for people to come to Germany as the payments for asylum seekers are roughly as high as the monthly wage of a police officer in Kosovo or Albania.
Meanwhile, Ms Merkel said the record refugee influx to Europe’s biggest economy will change the country, which was now seen by many abroad as a place of “hope”.
“What we are experiencing now is something that will occupy and change our country in coming years,” she said after 20,000 migrants arrived at the weekend alone.
“We want the change to be positive, and we believe we can accomplish that,” she added.
Merkel said scenes of spontaneous solidarity from hundreds of Germans who greeted families fleeing wars in Syria and beyond at railway stations with gifts and welcome signs were “very moving” and “breathtaking”.
“That is something very valuable, especially in view of our history,” she said, expressing joy that “Germany has become a country that many people abroad associate with hope”.
She stressed that other EU countries must take in more migrants because “only with common European solidarity can we master this effort”.
Merkel called for a “solidarity-based and fair distribution of refugees” and said the “Europe based on values must show its face”.
