Photo: DPAGerman pro-migrant groups Wednesday urged Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to respect its pledge under an EU deal and take in its share of refugees still stuck in Greece or Italy. "There are empty places in reception centres, we have planes, but there is a lack of political will" for the refugee relocation project, said Günter Burkhardt, head of refugee rights group Pro Asyl. But under an EU programme on relocating refugees stuck in Italy and Greece, Berlin has agreed to welcome another 27,500 by September. A petition demanding that Berlin take in more refugees has gathered 50,000 signatures and has been sent to the interior ministry. "Some of these refugees in Greece have been waiting for a long time to be able to join their family in Germany," said Renate Vestner-Heise, who started the petition.

Source: The Local March 02, 2017 08:18 UTC