The German Bundestag has voted to suspend family reunification rights for a specific category of migrants — those with so-called subsidiary protection — for an initial period of two years.
The decision, supported by the ruling CDU/CSU-SPD coalition, and also the opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD), affects an estimated 380,000 people, primarily Syrians, who are not granted full refugee status but remain in Germany due to risks in their home countries.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), who championed the bill, called it a “turning point” in migration policy.
“We are thus setting the migration policy headline for this election period,” he declared, citing strains on the housing market, schools, and social systems as justification. The measure is also intended as a deterrent to human traffickers, countering what Dobrindt described as the belief that “all you have to do is make it to Germany, then the whole family can follow suit.”
The SPD agreed to the policy as part of a compromise, despite some of its lawmakers expressing unease over the plans. The AfD, however, offered cautious support. “It is a small step in the right direction,” said AfD interior affairs spokesman Christian Wirth, but he warned the impact would be negligible.
“What the black-red coalition is doing in migration policy is a drop in the ocean. We must finally talk about the basic problem, the complete overburdening of our country by a misguided, uncontrolled, and partly self-destructive asylum policy!” Wirth added.
His party’s co-leader Alice Weidel echoed this sentiment in a post on X after the vote, calling the federal government’s family reunification stop “only a smokescreen.”
“Ninety percent of the ‘refugees’ living in Germany can continue to bring their families with them. So, in fact, nothing changes!” Weidel noted.
Der “Familiennachzug-Stop” der CDU ist nur eine Nebelkerze. 90 % der in Deutschland lebenden “Flüchtlinge” können auch weiterhin ihre Familien nachholen. Es ändert sich also faktisch nichts! pic.twitter.com/Me7Kv7cR0f
— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) June 27, 2025
The law targets only those under subsidiary protection, a status offering temporary safety without granting full refugee rights. Until now, family reunification for this group was capped at 1,000 people per month.
Critics on the left condemned the move. Clara Bünger of the Left Party denounced what she called a “misanthropic deterrence policy,” while the Greens’ Marcel Emmerich said the change was “merciless,” noting that separated families lack the emotional support crucial for integration.
CDU domestic spokesman Alexander Throm defended the bill against left-wing criticism, arguing that it merely restricts benefits for those who had originally entered Germany illegally.
The move follows neighboring Austria’s decision to halt family reunification for asylum seekers in March.
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