05.04.16

EU wants to centralize asylum procedures

The EU Commission seems to be considering overtaking the national asylum procedures, reported the newspaper "Die Welt". The particular procedures would then not be decided on by the member states anymore, but rather become centralized in a European agency. This agency would have a branch in every country and also process objections to assessments. The goal is to streamline the different asylum procedures. According to the report, the EU Commission wants to publicly announce its plans tomorrow.

Greek authorities: No repatriations of refugees today

Today, one day after the repatriation of 200 migrants and refugees from to Turkey all is quiet in the ports of and . There would be no new deportations today, journalists reported. The regional governor of the islands Christiana Kalogirou, justified this with the change in behavior by the refugees. Almost all of them have applied for asylum now, she said. It will take several days to process the asylum applications in the accelerated procedure. People whose applications are denied could only then be expelled to Turkey. Additionally, there is still a lack of officials responsible for the asylum decision. The operation started yesterday within the first EU-Turkey-agreement. In return, the first Syrian refugees coming directly from Turkey arrived in Germany.

Churches still skeptic about EU-Turkey-agreement

The Chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Heinrich Bedford- Strohm, criticized the EU-Turkey-agreement for its lack of "humanitarian and legal standards". The agreement should not lead to Europe sealing itself off and passing the responsibility on to

1 others, he told the newspaper "Rheinische Post". Many refugees who are not receiving appropriate care are waiting in Greece, he added.

German Red Cross looking for refugee children

The German Red Cross (DRK) has received hundreds of reports about missing refugee children over the course of a few weeks who are now being searched with photos. The DRK search website Trace-the-Face-Kids is collecting photos of children who are looking for their families and parents who are looking for their children in Europe. Only Red Cross tracing services are publishing here. The password protected pictures can only be accessed with a Red Cross employee. Seekers and those searched can then contact each other with the help of the DRK.

DRK tracing service: www.tracetheface.org

Refugee Radio in Funkhaus Europa – daily at 11:55 am and 11:55 pm. Frequencies: NRW: 103,3 MHz (WDR) | Bremen: 96,7 MHz (Radio Bremen) | Bremerhaven: 92,1 MHz (Radio Bremen) | Berlin und Brandenburg: 96,3 MHz (rbb)

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