50 children from Greece will be coming to Lower Saxony shortly. The minor refugees are housed in quarantine and may later be distributed across the whole of Germany.
- Lower Saxony welcomes 50 children from refugee camps in Greece
- Refugees are immediately placed in quarantine
- Redistribution planned throughout the country after isolation is complete
Hanover / Berlin - There has been a long struggle, and Germany is likely to accept the first 50 unaccompanied minors from the refugee camps in the Greek islands in the coming week. That was decided by the federal cabinet in Berlin on Wednesday. The first two weeks after entry will be in Corona quarantine in Lower Saxony . Then they should be distributed to several federal states. However, it is not excluded that the children stay permanently in Lower Saxony . Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had long campaigned for the admission of migrant children.
Apart from Germany, only Luxembourg is currently ready due to the corona virus to get young migrants out of the overcrowded informal camps. Other countries that originally agreed to help now make the timing of admission dependent on a decrease in the number of corona infected . According to the Ministry of the Interior, France, Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Croatia, Lithuania, Belgium and Bulgaria have also agreed to accept children and young people. The announcements of Luxembourg and Germany were welcomed in Brussels. "We are very happy that things are going ahead," said a spokesman for the EU Commission to the Evangelical Press Service, not least in view of the Lower Saxony Corna crisis.
Seriously ill or unaccompanied children come to Lower Saxony
Germany plans to take in even more minors from Greece in the near future. According to a coalition decision, these are refugee children who are seriously ill or unaccompanied and are younger than 14 years . As Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) said on Wednesday in the "Early Start" program of the RTL / ntv editorial team, between 350 and 500 unaccompanied children are to be brought to Germany in the coming weeks. The promise by Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (CSU) was "long overdue and at the same time a drop in the bucket," said Bundestag Vice President Claudia Roth (Greens).
50 sick or unaccompanied children will arrive in Lower Saxony shortly.
© dpa
"I am confident that we can receive the first children here in Germany next week," said Pistorius on Wednesday. The authorities are currently creating the conditions for receiving refugees during the Corona crisis . “Germany is also sending a clear signal in the coalition of the willing. I would like to expressly thank Horst Seehofer for his support of my initiative at federal and European level. ”When the refugees arrive next week and whether they will be flown directly to Hanover, it was initially not clear according to the ministry.
UN Children's Fund Unicef welcomes children
The UN children's aid organization Unicef welcomed Germany's announcement. Above all, the commitment of the receiving municipalities to the well-being of these children deserves recognition and support, said the managing director of Unicef Germany , Christian Schneider. At the same time, however, he also emphasized that this symbolic sign should not remain. The Diakonie said similarly. This could "at best be a start," said President Ulrich Lilie.
Pro Asylum even referred to the announcement as "alibi acts by the federal government". Managing Director Günter Burkhardt renewed his request to completely evacuate the overcrowded camps due to the danger of the corona pandemic and referred to the extremely poor medical and sanitary care there in the face of the corona virus.
The situation in the crowded Moria refugee camp is desperate
Pistorius had visited the Greek Aegean island of Lesbos in the autumn of last year and, given the desperate situation, particularly in the overcrowded refugee camp in Moria, had launched an initiative to accept unaccompanied minors. "Now we are on the home stretch and hopefully we will finally be able to provide these particularly vulnerable children with a firm roof over their heads, running water and sufficient food." Youth welfare institutions should provide them with good care and medical care during the Corona Offer crisis .
The Lower Saxony Greens MP Susanne Menge spoke of a first glimmer of hope , but called for the admission of far more children. "It remains shameful that Germany has so far only been able to help only a few sick children." The campaign could therefore only be a start. Lower Saxony must act on the federal government and the EU .
dpa / epd
Rubric list picture: © dpa
