"Steering the Tide" - Dobrindt spearheads suspending family reunifications
Unraveling the Harmony and Establishment of Rules Amongst Mankind - "Dobrindt Advocates for Pause in Family Immigration": A campaign led by Dobrindt pushes for the temporary halt of family reunification.
Want to keep Germany's social and integration systems stable amidst a flood of migrants? That's what Interior Minister Dobrindt proposes. According to him, these systems have their limits, and immigration to Germany requires a limit too - one we're politically defining.
He's targeting a business model run by criminal networks. This model thrives on the idea, "if one person makes it to Germany, the whole family can follow." He calls this a vicious cycle that criminals, traffickers, and gangs are banking on. And with today's move, we're taking a stand against it.
Dobrindt's words echoed in the Bundestag plenary, interrupted at times by the opposition. The Bundestag President had to reprimand a Left Party MP for calling the Interior Minister a larrikin in these interruptions.
The AfD's parliamentary business manager, Bernd Baumann, accused Dobrindt of stealing their ideas with this legislation. Dobrindt shot back, clarifying that unlike the AfD, the federal government is focused on reducing polarization instead of promoting radicalization and extremism.
This law is the first significant migration policy bill put forth by the new federal government, which prioritizes limiting migration. The draft, endorsed by the coalition, suspends family reunification for two years to streamline the admission and integration processes in the Federal Republic. However, family reunification remains possible in special cases. The bill also proposes adding the goal of limiting immigration to the Residence Act, in addition to steering it.
The suspension applies to family members of so-called subsidiary protection holders. These are people who are not officially recognized as refugees under the Geneva Convention or asylum seekers but can stay in Germany due to factors like fear of torture, the death penalty, or inhumane treatment in their home countries. Many of these are civil war refugees. Subsidiary protection holders initially receive a residence permit for three years, which can be extended.
- Alexander Dobrindt
- Family reunification
- Germany
- Criminal networks
- Bundestag
- Federal government
- Migrants
- Civil war refugees
- Subsidiary protection
- Asylum status
Enrichment Data:
This suspension, passed by the Bundestag with a vote of 444 to 135, revokes the family reunification rights of around 388,000 people in Germany with subsidiary protection, mostly Syrians[2][5]. Dubindt estimates that this move will reduce annual migrant numbers by approximately 12,000 and help break a business model exploited by human traffickers. He believes that continued family reunification under subsidiary protection creates a 'pull factor,' attracting migrants, knowing they can later bring their families even without full asylum status[2][4]. The legislation modifies the existing quota allowing up to 1,000 close relatives per month to join migrants with subsidiary protection, excluding people granted full asylum or refugee status, who retain family reunification rights[2].
- Alexander Dobrindt, the interior minister of Germany, is focusing on limiting migration by suspending family reunification for two years, hoping to streamline admission and integration processes in the Federal Republic.
- The suspension, approved by the Bundestag, affects around 388,000 people with subsidiary protection, primarily Syrians, and is expected to reduce annual migrant numbers by approximately 12,000, potentially breaking a business model exploited by criminal networks.
