Germany has ordered a temporary suspension of a UN refugee resettlement program it has been taking part in for years, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) confirmed.
The program is meant for refugees who are most in need of protection, including children, torture victims, or individuals who urgently need health care and are unable to remain in their initial country of arrival.
UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Germany spokesman Chris Melzer added that the initiative was suspended “during the negotiations for the coalition” currently ongoing between the right-wing Christian Democrat (CDU) bloc and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
“We assume that it will continue,”
as soon as there is a new interior minister, he said.
The BAMF has confirmed to the German news agency DPA that they ceased accepting new applications for the program in mid-March and are now only processing cases that were already at an advanced stage stages.
A three-year residency permit has been offered to refugees from other arrival countries since Berlin joined the scheme in 2012. On average of 5,000 recipients per year, Germany hosted the third-largest number of people after Canada and the US.
Over half of the refugees using this program have come from Syria, but others have come from Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Eritrea.
Germany committed to the European Commission 6,550 annual admissions in 2024 and 2025 for which it obtained some EU money.
What is driving the change in Germany’s immigration policies?
Friedrich Merz, the likely future Chancellor from the CDU, focused on immigration as a key theme in his campaign leading up to the federal election in February.
He attempted to leverage a fear linking immigration to crime — an association not supported by evidence — but ultimately failed to enact stringent immigration rules before the vote.
Critics contended that the suggested regulations, including permanent border controls, breached both German and EU laws. Additionally, Merz faced accusations of not only appealing to far-right voters but also dismantling the political “firewall” that had previously hindered the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s influence.
Although the new coalition plans to revive the UN program, an early draft of their governing agreement suggests they will close down most similar initiatives, including one for those escaping Taliban control in Afghanistan. The old programs are likely to be replaced with new ones that better align with Germany’s labor market requirements.
The UNHCR expressed greater concern regarding the actions of the new administration in Washington under President Donald Trump, who rescinded US involvement in the resettlement program on his first day in office. Despite a court order to restart application procedures, the Trump government has shown a determination not to abide by the judge’s ruling.
