Germany has suspended admissions of refugees via a UN resettlement programme, the interior ministry said on Tuesday, as a new coalition government that is expected to tighten immigration rules prepares to take office.
Migration has been a contentious issue in coalition negotiations between Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the centre-left Social Democrats, which are expected to conclude within weeks.
The conservatives are advocating a stricter approach to asylum seekers in response to rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and several violent incidents involving refugees.
The two sides have struck a preliminary agreement to end voluntary federal admission programmes for refugees such as the U.N. programme - the only one currently active - and not to launch any new ones, according to a document seen by Reuters.
Germany has participated since 2016 in a European Union resettlement scheme that accepts refugees selected by the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR. Most come from Turkey, Egypt, Jordan or Kenya, or from Libya via Rwanda.
The ministry said 4,711 people had arrived in Germany through the programme since 2024, out of the 13,000 refugees that Germany has promised the European Commission it will take in for 2024 and 2025 combined.
Despite the suspension, admissions that are already well advanced, with concrete commitments, will go ahead, a ministry spokesperson said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China next week for talks with President Xi Jinping, to attend a regional security summit, and to appear as Xi’s “main guest” at a military parade on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the Kremlin announced on Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has cancelled Secret Service protection for Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President, Kamala Harris according to a senior White House official.
Georgia’s ruling party is pointing to recent remarks by former USAID Administrator Samantha Power as evidence that U.S. aid programs are used to influence political regimes abroad. The comments, made during a prank interview, have fueled debate in Tbilisi over sovereignty, NGOs, and foreign funding.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Afghanistan is facing a worsening humanitarian and health crisis in 2025, with millions of returning refugees expected to stretch the country’s already fragile health system.
A woman pinned beneath concrete, a man with a badly broken leg, a child trapped under the rubble.
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