The first 107 of a total of 5,000 Syrian refugees who will be brought to Germany on charter flights by the Federal Government landed today in Hanover. They are mostly families and single parents with children; 54 of the 107 refugees are under age 18. They are among the 5,000 particularly vulnerable people who the Federal Government agreed to take in in Germany earlier this year. The majority of them will arrive in Germany in the coming weeks and months aboard chartered flights. About 300 people who organized their own travel arrangements have arrived in Germany since July.“It is very difficult to imagine the very difficult conditions the people have had to flee,” said Manfred Schmidt, president of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. “They are now in safety and can begin to process that which they have experienced. We won’t leave them to do this alone; rather, we will actively support them on arrival.”
In addition to accepting the 5,000 refugees in Germany, the Federal Interior Ministry has made it possible for the Federal States to take in Syrian relatives of residents of their states. A number of Federal States are already taking advantage of this opportunity. What’s more, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich is calling for a European refugee conference to be convened by the EU
