Germany’s Left calls for ‘humanity pact’ amid refugee wave

BERLIN (Reuters) – Social Democrat state premieres on Saturday called for Germany to take in vulnerable refugees from crowded reception camps in Greece, in the latest sign of discord in the ruling coalition over the prospect of a new refugee wave hitting Europe.

Tens of thousands of migrants have been trying to get into Greece, an EU member state, since Turkey said on February 28 it would no longer try to keep them on its territory as agreed in 2016 with the EU in return for aid.

But since Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 decision to let in more than a million migrants, migration has been among Germany’s most divisive issues, splitting her conservative party and fueling a far-right surge.

The Social Democrats, Merkel’s national coalition partners, control seven of the 16 states that make up the federal republic, and represent a more urban voter base which is more relaxed about immigration.

“Putting all political calculation aside, now is the time to act and at the very least get at least children and young unaccompanied refugees out of this situation,” said Michael Mueller, mayor of Berlin.

While immigration is a federal issue, Germany’s states have great autonomy and control huge budgets that can be allocated to related areas ranging from refugee integration to healthcare and housing.

In Saturday’s statement, the left-wing premieres, including the mayors of the three citystates of Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen, and the minister-president of Lower Saxony, a major industrial region, demanded a “pact of humanity” under which vulnerable refugees could be shared out across the country.

The leaders’ intervention comes as Merkel’s Christian Democrats squabble over who should succeed the 65-year-old as party leader. She remains personally popular 14 years after taking office, but her potential successors have different positions regarding her signature act from 2015.