The new German rules on family reunification will mean migrants with so-called “subsidiary protection”, a status just below that of refugee, will be blocked from bringing their families to join them in Germany for two years. In many places, migrants have run from persistent violence and real fears about getting food and getting by.
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The Finnish government expects to deport about two-thirds of the 32,000 asylum seekers who arrived in 2015, Paivi Nerg, administrative director of the interior ministry, said. Many did not make it, like the 3,811 people reported dead or missing previous year in the Mediterranean Sea by the International Organization for Migration. Most recently, around 25 dead immigrants, including 10 children, were discovered off the Greek island of Samos.
The influx has put European nations on the spot. “Our goal must be for refugees numbers not to rise again after the end of the winter storms but for them to keep going down”.
Renzi has repeatedly challenged Germany’s insistence on austerity in the European Union as a way of weathering slow growth, urging more state spending. It was the first time the pollster had asked voters whether Merkel should quit. Public support, however, has shifted from the ecstatic welcome of the summer to increasing unease that only worsened after asylum seekers were linked to sexual assaults on women celebrating the New Year in Cologne.
Sweden, Finland and Germany are finalizing plans to change their immigration policies, which include tightening asylum regulations and deporting refugees.
Police investigating the crime spree in the western city of Cologne have said the suspects were mostly asylum seekers and illegal migrants from North Africa.
Those attacks spurred a vigorous debate about Germany’s migrant policy, with German officials like Merkel vowing firm, swift justice.
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A spokeswoman for Germany’s Economy ministry said: “Talks within the German government are constructive”. She agreed it was especially important to reach young people coming to Germany from countries where hatred of Israel and Jews are common.
