[11. 6. 2018] On occasion of the public hearing and the parliamentary process on the reunification of refugee families AGF, the Federation of German Trade Unions, Diakonie Germany, the German league for the child, the Association of German Development NGOs and the Central Committee of German Catholics pledge jointly for not accepting the draft proposal on further limitation of reunification.
They have written a joint letter to the members of parliament as well as the federal ministers for Interior and for Families, in which the organisations express their deep concerns on the current draft law of the government on the reunification of refugee families with so-called subsidiary protection. The draft law aims for a further deep limitation of the renuification, making exceptions only for humanitarian reasons and only for a small amount of family members.
The signatory organisations state, that for them the long separation of spouses and families is not acceptable: “Both the German constitution as well as the European Convention on Human Rights protect the cohabition of family members as base for family life in a particular way. This protection is also true for refugee families.” Additionally the organisations have massive doubt in the practical applicability of the draft and criticise that the draft doesn’t even include the needed evaluation.
They also highlight the wrong argumention in the discussions: “the argumentation that concentrates on the presumed border of “integration capacities” is misleading. Rather it is the reunification of the core family that contributes particularly to a successful integration by encouraging people and release them of the permanent fear for the lifes of their family members.”
AGF, the Federation of German Trade Unions (DGB), Diakonie Germany, the German league for the child, the Association of German Development NGOs (VENRO) and the Central Committee of German Catholics ask Government and Members of Parliament to send a signal, that Germany is a strong country, an open society and a democracy that fulfills its responsibility for the human rights and the protection of the family – also for refugees”.