Germany sees sharp decline in refugee numbers

BERLIN

The number of refugees arriving in Germany in March was the lowest since June 2014, after Balkan countries closed their borders and the EU stepped up cooperation with Turkey.

German Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere said in Berlin on Friday that nearly 20,000 asylum seekers arrived in Germany last month, a steep drop from 60,000 in February and 90,000 in January.

De Maiziere said the recent numbers show “a very good start” for the EU-Turkey agreement, but he also expressed caution and refrained from making predictions for the year.

"Despite this possible development in the first quarter of 2016, it is still too early to make a projection for the whole year,” he told a press conference.

He warned about possible new migration routes being used by human smugglers and possible hurdles in implementation of the agreement to address the refugee crisis.

Germany was overwhelmed last year with taking in a record 1.1 million asylum-seekers, and the government came under widespread criticism for not closing its borders to migrants.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday welcomed the sharp decline in refugee numbers, and stressed that her government worked hard in the last couple of months to address the root causes of the problem, tried to improve living conditions of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, and supported diplomatic efforts for a cease-fire in war-torn Syria.

Meeting in Berlin with representatives of NGOs which support refugees in Germany, Merkel defended her open-door policy for refugees who flee wars and conflicts, but argued against irregular migration.

She underlined the importance of the EU-Turkey agreement to address the refugee crisis.

“I believe that it was right and it is right to have this agreement with Turkey with the spirit of burden-sharing,” she said, pointing out how Turkey alone is hosting nearly 2.7 million Syrian refugees and 300,000 refugees from other countries.

Merkel said the need for EU to provide financial assistance to Turkey is beyond dispute.

“I also believe that it is right to try to strengthen ties with EU and Turkey, to accelerate the accession process, without having an immediate full membership in mind, and to talk about visa problems and visa liberalization, despite all the problems that are there,” she said.

Merkel has been one of the leading supporters of the EU-Turkey deal, which was reached on March 18.

The agreement allows for the return of “irregular migrants” to Turkey from Greece in exchange for Syrian refugees to be relocated within the EU.

It was designed to discourage irregular migration, break human-smuggling gangs who have been trafficking refugees across the Aegean Sea, resulting in hundreds of deaths.

The deal provides a 6 billion euro (US$6.8 billion) aid package until the end of 2018 to help Turkey care for millions of refugees. It also foresees visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the EU, and accelerating Turkey’s EU membership talks.