Germany Has Funded 54,000 Voluntary Returns in 2016
Germany has given grants to 54,000 migrants to return home in 2016, reported the Associated Press. The figures represent a large increase in voluntary returns as opposed to deportations.
Harald Neymanns, a spokesman for the German Interior Ministry, said 21.5 million euros ($22.5 million) had been authorized in 2016 to cover the expenses of returning migrants
Some 35,500 people left Germany in 2015 but no final figure has been announced for 2016. The 54,000 refers to authorized payments in the first 11 months and the final figure may be higher. The figure excludes the 23,750 people who were forcibly deported this year.
Migrants from Albania comprised the single biggest group among voluntary returnees, at 15,749, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said. Some 5,754 people from Serbia, 5,373 from Iraq, 5,130 from Kosovo, 4,310 from Macedonia and 3,242 from Afghanistan were also funded to depart under the scheme.
A large number of migrants from the Balkans, who had little prospect of being granted asylum, arrived in Germany during 2015.
Calais ‘Jungle’ Children in Legal Challenge to U.K. Government
Some 36 migrant and refugee children in the Calais “Jungle” have brought a legal challenge against the U.K, alleging that Britain’s home secretary, Amber Rudd, has mishandled their cases.
Lawyers representing the children say the U.K. broke its promise to bring vulnerable children to Britain under the so-called Dubs amendment of the Immigration Act.
Twenty-eight of the children have had their asylum applications refused, while the other eight are awaiting decisions. Several of those refused said they have not received a written explanation of the decision.
The U.K. government agreed to let in some children from the Jungle only when it faced a rebellion in the House of Lords, led by Lord Dubs, a former child refugee who fled the Nazis during World War II.
“The government has rendered these children, including some as young as 13, to effectively be without any legal remedy until well into the New Year,” Toufique Hossain, director of public law at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, told the Guardian.
“It is … simply unlawful that these children have not been given written reasons as to why their applications were refused.”
Since agreeing to take in more children, the government has restricted the criteria so that a child must be under 12 years of age, at high risk of sexual exploitation, be under 15 and either Syrian or Sudanese or be under 18 and a sibling of someone fitting one of these criteria.
Greece Plans New Migrant Detention Centers on Eastern Islands
Greece plans to build new migrant detention centers on its islands closest to Turkey. Some 15,440 refugees and migrants are currently crammed into facilities on Greece’s Aegean Islands, said the Associated Press.
Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas said that new facilities to house up to 200 people would be erected to speed up the asylum claims process.
Since March, Greece’s population of refugees and migrants has crept up from 57,000 to 62,700. Those on the islands and are not allowed to leave because of a deportation agreement between the E.U. and Turkey.
Greece, the U.N. and the E.U. have faced stiff criticism for failing to ready refugee camps and detention centers for winter, despite adequate funding being put in place. Mouzalas said all migrant camps in Greece are now equipped with winter facilities after weeks of delays.
Recommended Reads:
- The Guardian: Angela Merkel and the History Book That Helped Inform Her Worldview
- New York Times: A Joyful Bustle to Get Ready for Guests: Syrian Refugees
- Quartz: Somalis Abroad Are Rebuilding Their War-Torn Country Through Selfless Giving
- Al Jazeera: 2016: The Year the World Stopped Caring About Refugees