1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Politics

CDU rejects calls to take in child refugees from Greece

December 22, 2019

Two German parties are at loggerheads over how to deal with overcrowded migrant camps in Greece. The Greens are urging the government to come to the aid of 4,000 children, while the CDU said it is "not a solution."

Children help clear up rubbish at a migrant camp after a heavy bout of rain on the island of Chios in December
Migrant children help clear up rubbish at a refugee camp after a heavy bout of rain on the island of Chios in DecemberImage: Getty Images/AFP/L. Gouliamaki

Germany's interior ministry on Sunday rejected calls to grant asylum to refugee children currently living at overcrowded camps on the Greek islands.

Christian Democrat (CDU) Günter Krings, who also serves as parliamentary undersecretary in the interior ministry, responded to the Greens' demand to aid thousands of children who are currently residing in the camps off the Turkish coast.

Read more: Greece plans stricter refugee course

Krings told regional newspaper Rheinische Post that "unilateral admission campaigns for certain groups are not a solution."

Green party leader Robert Habeck had asked the Berlin government to bring thousands of migrants from the Greek camps to Germany.

"Get the kids out first," Habeck told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

Roughly 4,000 children, including "many girls, many fragile little people," are in need of urgent help and it is a "requirement of humanity," he insisted.

Moria mayor appeals for help

03:35

This browser does not support the video element.

Other ideas on how to tackle the problem

Krings, though, had a very different take on proceedings as he emphasized that helping from a distance was a more appropriate measure. The CDU lawmaker added that the acceptance of children by Germany would "bypass all European legal rules."

"And for the vast majority of people, they would not change the unacceptable conditions on site," he added.

Read more: What Germany's post-war refugees taught us about integration

The MEP Stephan Mayer (CSU) expressed similar sentiments. "If Germany went it alone at the moment, the other EU countries would avoid their responsibility," Mayer told the newspapers of the Editor Network Germany (RND).

For the admission of unaccompanied minors, the interior ministry is looking for a unified "solution at European level" and are making efforts in close collaboration with the European Commission to help solve the issue.

Just last week Greece said it expects a further influx of asylum seekers in 2020, predicting up to 100,000 may arrive on its islands from Turkey in the coming year.

jsi/mm (AFP, dpa)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.

Skip next section Explore more
Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW