German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stated to the Bild newspaper on Saturday that “this is emergency relief.” “We want to remove all barriers so that Turkish or Syrian families living in Germany can bring their immediate family members home from the catastrophe area.”
She said that standard visas will be used for this, and they would be quickly issued and valid for three months.
The choice was made after the number of earthquake-related fatalities exceeded 29,000 on Sunday. Both nations have experienced mass displacement.
More than half of the 2.9 million persons of Turkish descent who call Germany home also have Turkish nationality.
Since former German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the country’s borders to refugees in 2015 and 2016, the Syrian community, which is also sizable, has been estimated at 924,000.
In 2014, there were 118,000 Syrians living in Germany.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Twitter on Saturday that her country wants to make sure that families in Germany can temporarily take in relatives impacted by the earthquake if they no longer have a roof over their heads or need medical attention.
The foreign and interior ministries, according to Baerbock, had established a “task force” to launch the effort.
“The goal is to make the impacted population’s visa application process as unbureaucratic as possible. We have redistributed capacity and expanded employees at our embassies in Turkey, Baerbock continued.
According to the dpa news agency, the expedited and priority visas are meant to help those who have been significantly impacted personally by the tragedy, such as those who may be in danger of losing their homes or who have sustained injuries that need medical attention.
Furthermore, it was said that the program is intended for victims who want to find asylum in Germany and stay with first- or second-degree relatives who are either German citizens or who have a permanent residency status.
