Germany has agreed to accept 147 people from war-torn Gaza, citing urgent humanitarian reasons. Most of those to be brought to Germany are reportedly local employees of German institutions, and will be provided with temporary residential permits and transferred via Egypt after further checks.
Germany has agreed to take in 147 people from the Gaza Strip as the ongoing Israeli military operation continues to devastate the enclave, the German Interior Ministry has said.
In view of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, German institutions say they have been trying to persuade local staff to leave the country.
According to the Interior Ministry, the admission from Gaza will generally take place via Egypt.
The acceptance of the 147 Gazans, proposed by Germany's Foreign Office, is, however, subject to the condition that no findings arise in individual cases that would conflict with the political interests of Germany, the ministry said in response to a written query from MP Andrea Lindholz.
No conflict with Germany's 'political interests' allowed
Lindholz, who is the deputy chairwoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, had demanded to know how Germany would ensure that the 147 people did not possess anti-Semitic attitudes.
Talks are being held to clarify whether there are any grounds for exclusion.
"The security authorities check before the final decision whether there are security concerns in individual cases," the ministry noted.
Non-citizens abroad can be granted a residence permit for admission to Germany under urgent humanitarian conditions. It is up to the Interior Ministry or a body designated to safeguard Germany's political interests to declare admission.
The Interior Ministry told parliamentarians that statistics are not kept on the number of people who have already entered Germany in this way.
With DPA