Germany's CDU-SPD Deal on Migrants Family Reunion Freeze Insufficient - AfD

16:14 GMT, 31 January 2018

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - The decision of Germany's potential coalition government of the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats to extend the suspension of family reunions for refugees through July is a step in the right direction, Joerg Meuthen, a federal spokesman for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told Sputnik.

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"Suspending family reunion is generally the right thing to do. However, the would-be coalition parties' plan to limit the suspension only until July is not enough. Also, both parties [CDU/CSU and SPD] suffer from a striking lack of credibility in regards to migration policy. It is hard to imagine that they really want to have an effective limit to migration, which, in fact, at least one of the would-be coalition parties admittedly does not want," Meuthen said.

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The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its sister party Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) and the SPD on Tuesday agreed that the current suspension on family reunions for migrants and refugees with subsidiary protection should last through July 31 and formally confirmed the preliminary talks' decision to cap the number of reunions at 1,000 a month. Subsidiary protection is granted to people who cannot obtain a refugee status but face serious harm in their country of origin, giving them the right to reside and work in Germany.

The SPD has initially been against capping the number of asylum seekers and in favor of ending the freeze on family reunions, however, its potential coalition partners, particularly, the CSU, are more inclined toward a cap on arrivals.

The AfD has been promoting a cap on all immigration and closure of the German border.