UN urges Germany to keep taking its resettlement programme refugees

The head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) expressed regret on Friday over the German government's decision to temporarily withdraw from his organization's resettlement programme for refugees.

"This worries me," Filippo Grandi told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

"It would be nice if Germany could still take in at least a few refugees through this programme." As an example he mentioned a person who is unsafe in their native country because of their homosexuality.

Under the resettlement programme, the UNHCR proposes particularly vulnerable refugees who cannot remain in their initial host countries to other nations. Those accepted do not need to apply for asylum and are initially allowed to stay for three years.

Germany had originally pledged to take in a total of 13,000 people in 2024 and 2025, but this was halted following the change in government in May.

Grandi also warned against forcing Syrian refugees to return to their homeland after the fall of the Assad regime. saying the new government there is "inexperienced and the situation is fragile."

He noted that hundreds of thousands of Syrians have returned to their homes but these were mainly people internally displaced. Hardly anyone has gone back to Syria from Europe, he said, because the situation is better in Europe,

He warned against forcing Syrians to return, saying it would create new problems and advocated for investments to be made in Syria.

Since 2015, Germany has taken in more than 1 million Syrian refugees - far more than others in the European Union - though not through the UN mechanism.