Migrant returns weighing on relations with Berlin
Berlin is pressing Athens over the return of migrants who initially sought asylum in Greece before traveling to Germany, under the Dublin Regulation framework.
This comes as a response to an increasing number of migrants seeking better opportunities in Germany due to its extensive social benefits.
The German government is hardly satisfied with the situation, as so-called “secondary migration” is a “serious bilateral issue,” according to diplomatic circles in Athens.
It is an issue that even concerns the heads of government of the two countries in their meetings.
“It is important to discuss with Greece how people who have applied for asylum there and come to Germany can return to Greece,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser after her recent meeting with Greek Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos in Berlin.
Recent reports indicate that 16,500 individuals applied for asylum in Germany last year, despite already being granted asylum in Greece, with German authorities approving 12,000 of those cases.
However, Germany’s request for Greece to accept more than 5,000 migrants has met with limited success, as Athens has agreed to only 65 cases.
