In a joint communiqué, the German Churches, in the person of the representative of the Council of the German Evangelic church (EKD), Stephan Reimers, and of Karl Jüsten, director of the relevant commission of the German bishops, have welcomed the approval of the new law on immigration by the Bundestag (German federal parliament). The Churches welcome the fact that “all the forces involved have shown their willingness to reach a compromise on a question so important for our society”, emphasizing the presence in the new law of “important improvements at the humanitarian level”, although a transformation in the law on immigration “has only been reached sporadically”. The Churches approve, in particular, the extension of protection (also in cases of civil war in which there is no violence by the civil institutions) and the new provisions on the right to be joined by family members, raising the maximum age of children that may join their parents from 16 to 18.
