'Can Handle This'? Germany's Refugee-Related Spending in 2016 Surpassed $22Bln

Germany spent about 20 billion euros ($22.4 billion) on refugees in 2016, with 9.3 billion allocated to federal states and communes, local media reported Wednesday, citing a government report at its disposal.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Federal authorities transferred 5.5 billion euros to the federal lands for expenses related to refugees, who had not yet received the refugee status. Another two billion euros were allocated for the integration of refugees into the German society, the Rheinische Post newspaper reported.

Among other things, 400 million euros were spent to compensate local spending associated with the construction of accommodation centers, and 350 million euros as compensation for expenses related to underage migrants who arrived in Germany unaccompanied.

The most significant aid of 1.2 billion euros was given to the lands of North Rhine-Westphalia. Bavaria received 860 million euros and Baden-Wuerttemberg got 728 million euros from the federal budget.

The federal authorities themselves spent about 20 billion euros on refugees where some 11 billion euros went specifically to measures countering the causes of migration.

In 2015, Germany declared an open-door refugee policy, becoming one of the key destinations for migrants coming to Europe from the Middle East and North Africa. According to the country's Interior Ministry, the number of refugees that came to Germany in 2016 amounted to some 280,000, compared to 890,000 arrivals in 2015. The majority of asylum seekers arriving in Germany are from Syria or Afghanistan.

On August 31, 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a press conference at which she announced "we can handle this (wir schaffen das)," a phrase which has come to define her Chancellorship, and Germany's open-door migrant policy.