This year marks the 40th anniversary of the church asylum movement in Germany. While it does not replace legal refugee protection, church asylum can delay or prevent deportations, and for a small number of people, it can be a last resort when all other options have been exhausted.
InfoMigrants heard from a Syrian asylum seeker who got a second chance thanks to the controversial practice, as well as a church employee and a Protestant bishop during a congress on church asylum at the Church of the Holy Cross in Berlin.