German coalition parties agree on refugee family reunions

BERLIN: Germany’s two biggest parties agreed on Tuesday to allow refugee family reunions to bring up to 1,000 people a month to the country, removing a key hurdle in their talks to form a government.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives have sought to limit arrivals after a mass influx, while the Social Democrats (SPD) argue that asylum seekers must be allowed to bring their relatives on humanitarian grounds and to aid their social integration.

The refugee aid group Pro Asyl slammed as "absolutely insufficient" the compromise hammered out in the ongoing coalition talks and labelled it a victory for the "hardliners" in Merkel’s Bavarian sister party the CSU.

In their talks aimed at continuing their right-left "grand coalition" after inconclusive elections last September, the parties have also agreed in principle to limit total new migrant and refugee arrivals at around 200,000 a year.

from The News International - World http://ift.tt/2DMo2LA