The head of Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Frank-Juergen Weise, told the newspaper that he expects a maximum of 300,000 refugees to arrive in Germany this year.
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Some German officials have put the total number of arrivals from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa at more than one million during 2015.
“We’ll present the exact number soon but it’s certain that less than one million people came to Germany a year ago”, Frank-Juergen Weise told Bild am Sonntag newspaper in comments published on Sunday.
Germany is preparing for a possible 300,000 migrants to enter the country this year – but the nation’s leaders are convinced the country can manage the influx of people.
He said the Germany should send hundreds of thousands of refugees back over the next few years instead of allowing their families into the country. Asked in the ARD interview when Germans would get tax relief given that Germany has a budget surplus, Merkel said that would come “in the next legislative period”.
The closure of the so-called Balkan migrant trail and a European Union deal with Turkey to keep refugees from reaching Greece – a main entry point into the bloc – has driven down arrivals from the Middle East and Afghanistan. “What I continue to think is wrong is that some say, ‘We generally don’t want Muslims in our country regardless if there is a humanitarian need or not.’ We’re going to have to keep discussing that”.
“But if more people come in, we will be under pressure”, Weise said. “And the economy in Germany is so good, thank god, that we can afford it”. Integrating refugees into German society would “take a long time and cost a lot”, Weise said.
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A poll published Sunday by Bild am Sonntag found that 50 percent of respondents opposed a fourth term for Merkel, should she decide to run again in 2017.
