terre des hommes and pro asylum demands that from the federal government to improve improvements in family reunification
With a joint action before the Bundestag, the child and human rights organizations are reminiscent of the federal government of their promise
Osnabrück/Frankfurt, May 15, 2023 - terre des hommes and Pro Asylum from the Federal Government on the International Day of the Family on May 15th, to finally redeem their promise from the coalition agreement, to facilitate family reunification. Under the motto #vergissmeinnicht, this nationwide activists with the handover of a forget-me-not flower to their MPs. With the central campaign in Berlin, the Federal Government is reminded of its promise by a sea of flower by 416 forget -me -not - one per MP - and the handover of a flower to parliamentary group representatives before the Reichstag.
Tens of thousands of families who have been separated by flight and persecution are currently waiting to be reunited in Germany. Above all, legal regulations prevent your family reunification from being able to take place quickly, legally and human. In the case of war refugees who receive subsidiary protection, the suit is limited to 1,000 people a month and linked to additional conditions. In the case of unaccompanied minor refugees who had to flee from countries such as Afghanistan or Somalia alone due to impending forced recruitment or forced marriages, the parents have a right to family reunification. Long procedures due to a lack of digitization and slowly working authorities delay family reunification by several years and keep those affected in an almost endless waiting state.
"Every day on which refugees children and young people are separated from their families is one too much," said Sophia Eckert, a consultant for migration and escape at terre des hommes . »This applies not only to spouses, parents and children, but also to siblings. The close residence law definition of family that excludes siblings is no longer up to date. Over two thirds of the respondents advocate the siblings, 96 percent, and thus almost all respondents stated that siblings for children, in their opinion, belong to the core family. As part of the core family, you finally have to receive a right of follow -up right, just like the parents. Corresponding relief from the coalition agreement must be implemented immediately, «says Eckert.
In the 2021 coalition agreement, the Federal Government promised to revoke the grievances described, to facilitate family reunification to the entitled to subsidiary and to accelerate and digitize procedures. However, the implementation into legal regulations has so far failed to materialize.
»The necessary improvements in family reunification were one of the central promises of the coalition agreement in asylum issues. It is unspeakable that the Federal Government continues to delay these improvements and instead plan new tightening in the deportation. For them, people refugees from Afghanistan, for example from Afghanistan or Eritrea for several years, is a catastrophe for them personally and integrated, ”commented Wiebke Judith, spokeswoman for legal policy of Pro Asyl.
The coalition agreement was a glimmer of hope for tens of thousands on the run. It is currently not foreseeable when this project is finally being tackled. terre des hommes and Pro Asyl, the Federal Government call on to end this unsustainable situation and to finally appreciate the right to family life of the affected and the associated children's rights by corresponding legal changes in family reunification.
Various organizations, local initiatives and activists take part in the #Vergissmeinnicht campaign nationwide. In Berlin there is a central campaign before the Bundestag:
What? Public rally, flower distribution and photo action
Where? On the Reichstag meadow before the Bundestag, Berlin
who? Pro Asyl, terre des hommes , other civil society organizations and members of the government parties
When? Monday, May 15th
- from 12:00 p.m.: Start
- Until 12:30 p.m.: Speeches by terre des hommes , Pro Asyl and the family reunification initiative Eritrea
- from 12:30 p.m.: Handover of the flowers and demands to MdB Hakan Demir, deputy migration policy spokesman (SPD), MdB Helge Lindh, rapporteur for national refugee law (SPD), MDB Nina Stahr, member of the family committee and education policy spokeswoman (Bündnis90/The Greens), FDP (requested)
- from 1:00 p.m.: Distribution of the other flowers in the government district
Further information on the Forsa survey can be found here .
Background information on the campaign can be found on the #Vergiss meinnicht campaign page . An overview of case studies of separate families can be found there and here .