BERLIN
\nGerman 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.
\nParliament\u2019s lower house voted 444-135 to suspend the possibility of family reunions for two years for migrants who have \u201csubsidiary protection,\u201d a status that falls short of asylum.
\nAt the end of March, more than 388,000 people living in Germany had the status, which was granted to many people fleeing Syria\u2019s civil war.
\nNew Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany\u2019s 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\u2019s biggest economy would be turned away.
\nThe bill approved Friday is the first legislation on migration since Merz took office.
\nIt 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.
\nInterior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told lawmakers that the change would result in 12,000 fewer people being able to come to Germany each year and \u201cbreak a business model\u201d for smugglers.
\nPeople often know they won\u2019t get full recognition as refugees, \u201cbut they set off for Germany because it is known that, even without asylum recognition … you can have your family follow,\u201d Dobrindt said. \u201cThat is a significant pull effect and we are removing this pull effect today.\u201d
\nDobrindt said \u201cour country\u2019s capacity for integration simply has a limit.\u201d
\nLiberal opposition lawmakers decried the government\u2019s approach. Marcel Emmerich, of the Greens, described the legislation as \u201can attack on the core of every society, on a truly central value \u2014 the family.\u201d
\n\u201cAnyone who wants integration must bring families together,\u201d he said.
\nThe far-right, anti-migration Alternative for Germany described the move as a very small step in the right direction.
\nGerman governments have for years faced pressure to curb migration as shelters across the country filled up. The administration of Merz\u2019s predecessor, Olaf Scholz, already had taken some measures including the introduction of checks on all Germany\u2019s borders.
\nAsylum applications declined from 329,120 in 2023 to 229,751 last year and have continued to fall this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019s lower house voted 444-135 to suspend the possibility of family reunions for two years for migrants who have \u201csubsidiary protection,\u201d a status that falls short of asylum. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-487011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n