Merkel secures coalition breakthrough on refugee family reunions

DPA, 30th JANUARY, 2018- German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD) came to an agreement on refugee family reunions on Tuesday, overcoming a key hurdle on the way to forming a coalition government.

Family reunions for refugees wishing to bring relatives to Germany will be suspended until July 31, after which the number is to be capped at 1,000 people per month, sources from the parties’ negotiating teams told dpa.

The cap will be subject to some exceptions in cases of extreme hardship, they said.

Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian CSU sister party and the SPD already agreed to the monthly limit on family reunions in a draft coalition deal earlier this month.

But the debate was reopened following the launch of formal coalition talks, some four months after an inconclusive election in September.

The parties have yet to explain whether family reunions will be available to people who have been granted partial protection as asylum seekers. The exact details are to be hashed out during talks in the coming weeks.