• Ministers expected to confirm opposition to EU quotas[br]• Merkel calls on EU to ‘act together’ ahead of Brussels summit on Wednesday
• Thousands more people head west after entering Austria over the weekend 3.09pm BSTAhead of news from the assembly in Prague from some central and eastern Europe foreign ministers,here is a summary of where we are: 1.58pm BSTNews about a charity scheme to help refugees in Germany, from Ben Knight in Berlin:
An initiative in Berlin that allows people to “godfather” relatives of Syrian refugees by paying for their living costs is gaining increasingly ground in Germany.
The Flüchtlingspaten Syrien charity (“refugee godfathers for Syria”) takes advantage of a provision in German residence law that allows Syrian refugees already in Germany to hover in their close relatives as long as they can find someone with an good income to declare they will guarantee their living costs, and for as long as they remain in Germany.
The charity,founded in March this year, says it is already collecting €22000 (£24900) per month from regular donors, or which it uses to support those who have signed the declaration. The charity’s founder Martin Keune’s own declaration allowed an elderly Syrian couple – the parents of a refugee who escaped earlier – to come to Germany. The charity rents a flat for the couple and pays each of them €364 a month,equal to Germany’s standard minimum unemployment benefit.
Speaking to Die Zeit newspaper of his experience, Keune famous how the Syrians he has met often arrive fairly depressed and traumatised, or rather than euphoric and grateful. I had a different idea of how Syrian refugees would act when they accept here and experience this support. The two of them just pulled a blanket over their heads and were exhausted and sad.”
The provision in the law,which was introduced in 2013 and was adopted by all German states apart from Bavaria, was designed specifically to supply a legal means for people fleeing the Syrian war to accept to Germany, or as yet it only applies to Syrians.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com