Suspension of family reunification for those entitled to subsidiary protection

The Bundestag has voted on a bill from the CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups to temporarily suspend family reunification for those entitled to subsidiary protection*. The draft law proposes to suspend family reunification for two years in order to ease the burden on the reception and integration capacities of states and municipalities. According to the draft, the background is the consistently high number of people seeking protection and the complete utilization of the previous quota of 1,000 visas per month. In cases of hardship, it should still be possible to bring spouses, minor children and, in the case of unaccompanied minors, parents. In addition to “control”, the term “limitation” should also be explicitly included in the objectives of the Residence Act. According to the draft law, the measure is compatible with constitutional, international and European law requirements and should lead to significant relief in administration and finances. There was a recommendation for a resolution from the Interior Committee for the draft law, which recommended its adoption. * People are entitled to subsidiary protection if neither refugee protection nor the right to asylum are granted, but valid reasons can be presented that they are at risk of serious harm in their country of origin and that they cannot claim the protection of their country of origin or do not want to claim it because of the threat (source: Federal Ministry for Migration and Refugees). The bill was approved with 444 votes in favour. 133 MPs voted no, including MPs from the ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS and THE LEFT factions as well as Hakan Demir and Maja Wallstein from the SPD parliamentary group. There were no abstentions.