Germany is being taken to court by more than 50 refugees and families who want to overturn Berlin’s decision to shut the door on a UN resettlement scheme—a move the government says is essential to regain control of migration.
Leipzig-based migration lawyer Matthias Lehnert accuses Berlin of breaking the law by cancelling entry commitments made to Africans under the program. The claimants, mainly from Kenya, Congo, and South Sudan, were cleared to move to Germany without applying for asylum—a process that bypasses the normal checks and limits on migration.
The UN “resettlement program” was signed in 2012 by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel and bound Germany to take up to 6,500 refugees a year, handpicked from camps abroad as “particularly vulnerable.” Those admitted received instant three-year residence permits and the option of permanent settlement if considered integrated—meaning they could remain in Germany for life.
On April 8, then–Interior Minister Nancy Faeser suspended all refugee admission schemes, including the UN program. The current CDU/CSU-SPD coalition has kept that freeze in place, despite legal challenges and pressure from pro-migration groups.
The UN estimates around 29 million refugees live in camps worldwide, with one in ten meeting the criteria for resettlement—a figure that, if applied, would amount to millions of potential arrivals.
