Merkel’s Bloc Agrees to Limit Number of Refugees Entering Germany Christian Democrats set cap at 200,000 annually in a largely symbolic concession to her Bavarian allies By Andrea Thomas
https://www.wsj.com/articles/merkels-bloc-agrees-to-limit-number-of-refugees-entering-germany-1507498856
BERLIN—Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc agreed to limit the number of refugees allowed to enter Germany annually, in an attempt to bridge differences on migration and form a much-needed united front in coalition talks.
Sunday’s agreement comes two weeks after national elections brought a victory but also the worst turnout in nearly 70 years for Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats and their Bavarian Christian Social Union allies, who are also the most vocal in-house critic of her migration policy.
The bloc agreed to limit to 200,000 annually the number of people allowed to enter Germany for humanitarian reasons. The conservatives pledged at the same time that people wouldn’t be turned back at the German border, expressing their support for the right to seek asylum in Germany and for the Geneva refugee convention.
“We continue with our efforts to permanently reduce the number of people fleeing to Germany and Europe,” the draft agreement seen by The Wall Street Journal said. “We want to ensure that the total number of admissions out of humanitarian reasons…doesn’t exceed 200,000 people a year.”
This limit would be amended if an international crisis warrants it, the paper said.
Roughly 890,000 asylum seekers entered Germany in 2015 alone, followed by 280,000 in 2016. An annual upper limit of 200,000 is unlikely to be reached this year, according to recent estimates from the interior ministry, because fewer than 125,000 asylum seekers entered Germany this year through the end of August.
“We have a common understanding that we have to set a limit because we are otherwise overburdening a society,” Jens Spahn, a prominent critic of Ms. Merkel’s migration policy and member of her party’s executive committee, told public broadcaster ARD on Sunday. CONTINUE AT SITE
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