A REFUGEE who travelled to Germany with 14 members of his
family says Angela Merkel invited migrants into the country.
Hussein Abu Kashif, 21, was granted a residency permit for
three years in February last year.
Hussein fled his native Syria alongside his eight-year-old
sister Hala and seven other relatives.
The Syrian says Hala, who has been granted refugee status,
could help bring the rest of the family, who are in a refugee camp in Turkey,
over to Germany.
The family now plan to take advantage of Germany’s family
reunification scheme.
On arrival in Germany refugees are given partial asylum
status, known as subsidiary protection, from the Federal Office for Migration
and Refugees (BAMF).
The partial status means they are safe from being deported
and allows them to apply for family to join them two years later.
Hussein said: "We chose Germany because Germany said it
wanted the refugees to come. After all it is different to go somewhere you are
invited instead of somewhere where you're maybe not wanted."
The siblings took the Balkan route travelling from Syria to
the Turkish port of Izmir to take tugboat to Greece.
They then walked through Hungary to the German border in a
one-month trip that cost around £1,600.
Healthcare was also a deciding factor when the family chose
to leave their village near the city of Idlib to go to Germany.
Hala has a birth defect on her left foot and the family say
she will receive better treatment in Germany.
To date, 14 members of the Abu Kashif family have arrived in
Germany. Including spouses, 17 family members in Turkey are waiting for a
travel permit.
Plans are being made to bring the extended family over with
relatives travelling with nieces and nephews rather than their own children in
order to take advantage of Germany’s immigration rules.
Compiled by Akram Halil
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