Family reunification in Germany difficult for Eritreans

Eritreans who want to reunite with their family members in Germany are finding it hard due to the absence of a visa section at the German embassy in Eritrea and long processing times in neighbouring countries, Deutsche Welle (DW) reported.

Refugees in Germany are entitled to apply for family reunification after having been granted asylum. Family members also have to apply for family reunification in the German embassy in their country of residence within three months after asylum has been granted to their relative.

Eritreans seeking to join relatives granted permanent residence in Germany have to travel to neighbouring countries to apply for family reunification.

Once in a neighbouring country, getting appointments with embassy officials can take longer than the three months in which they have to apply, and it is still up to the officials in charge to decide whether the right to family reunification is granted.

Last year, German embassies in Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan processed 808 such applications, out of which only 394 applications, or 48.8 per cent, were approved.

Member of the German parliament Ulla Jelpke told DW “high bureaucratic hurdles” are the cause for problems with family reunification.

“I’m shocked that family reunification is apparently being made so difficult for these people. It leads to human tragedy,” the Left party’s domestic affairs spokeswoman said.

The Left party says the fact that applicants have to be in possession of an Eritrean passport and that spouses need to provide proof of official registration of marriage in Eritrea is unreasonable.

“That the federal government expects people to obtain these documents from a military dictatorship, or officials of this dictatorship, is impossible. Naturally, people are extremely frightened to go there or send relatives there,” said Jelpke.

The federal government, however, believes the rules are reasonable, and in response to a query from the Left party, said “there is no systematic correlation between deserting or withdrawing from military service and the refusal by an Eritrean embassy to issue a passport”.

The response failed to clearly state how long it takes an application to be processed, saying “an average processing time could not be determined.”

“My practical experience is that people wait months – if not years – before anything happens,” Jelpke said.

The response also said appointments for first visits are deleted after six months and pointed out that there is a shortage of available appointments at the embassy in Addis Ababa, where most applications by Eritreans were made in the past year.

Applicants have to add their names to an appointments list by coming to the embassy in person. The embassy then works through the order of entries to give them appointments for first visits.

Just over 20 people deal with processing visas at the embassy in Addis Ababa, not only for the relatives of Eritrean refugees, but for all applicants, Jelpke told DW.

TMP – 08/06/2018