The German federal grand coalition government has passed a new migrant family reunification law that among other provisions could see Islamic extremists able to bring their families to Germany in “exceptional cases.”
The new law was passed by the grand coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democrats, on Wednesday. The proposal to allow Islamic extremists to possibly reunite with their families in Germany has fractured the coalition with conservative members heavily criticising the proposal Focus reports.
CDU politician Philipp Amthor criticised the Social Democrats for the proposal saying, “Instead of debating under what circumstances even potential terrorists can assert a claim to family reunification, the SPD would do better to seek solutions to, for example, deport people like the former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, who has been living in Germany for several years. We should concentrate on such questions.”
The former bodyguard of the notorious terrorist and former al-Qaeda leader was revealed to be living in Berlin last month and to be receiving welfare to the tune of £1,000 per month from German taxpayers.
Despite having his asylum application rejected by the government, Sami A. has been granted the ability to stay in the country because he may face potential torture in his native Tunisia.
The new proposal will also allow asylum seekers living under “subsidiary protection,” a status that is just short of full asylum, the right to bring family members into Germany. The issue was previously a major contention between the CDU/CSU and the SPD during the coalition talks earlier this year.
Estimates as to how many more asylum seekers could now be eligible to enter Germany vary with some reports claiming that hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers could be allowed to bring their families to Germany.