The idea was quickly shot down by the chancellery, which said it had no advance knowledge of it, and sparked outrage from Merkel’s centre-left coalition allies the Social Democrats (SPD).
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About 5,000 people gathered in Berlin on Saturday to express their outrage at the asylum policies of the German government.
Has anyone asked somebody in the Merkel government why they didn’t think about that sort of thing before they opened the floodgates?
Germany’s finance minister has said that the country can not take in an unlimited number of refugees as divisions deepen in the coalition government over how to handle arrivals from Syria seeking asylum in Germany. Syrians are the largest single group arriving.
Still, applause from the Christian Social Union – the tough-talking Bavarian branch of Merkel’s conservative bloc – suggested that the issue may fester.
“Thomas de Maiziere is right”, he told Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. The chancellor won global plaudits in August when she suspended European Union immigration rules to declare that any Syrians entering Germany would gain refugee status, though this stirred consternation among European Union partners who were not forewarned of the move.
“Anything that helps to curb the influx and sends a signal that our capacity is limited is right and important”, Carsten Linnemann, a prominent MP, told Spiegel magazine.
“When you view this reality across the country, then it’s clear to anyone: Family reunions just aren’t possible under these conditions”, said Seibert, adding that this would not involve any changes to German law.
The German curbs will encourage these countries to establish barriers of their own to the refugee wave.
The leaked details come after Mrs Merkel recently warned that border closures could lead to “military conflict” in the Balkans.
The report warns that a simultaneous closure by Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia could create an “impasse” on the refugee route across Europe and “trigger panic and chaos among migrants and authorities”.
In the rare truce, Merkel, Gabriel and Seehofer stood shoulder-to-shoulder and presented a package of measures, including a common ID system and database for asylum seekers.
A man carries a child after travelling by rubber boat to a beach on the northern shore of Lesbos, Greece, Saturday, November 7, 2015.
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“Procedures for Syrians will continue to be handled as they have been so far”, he said.
