Berlin Expects Up to 300,000 Refugees to Arrive in Germany in 2017

The total number of refugee arrivals to Germany could raise to 200,000-300,000 by the end of the year as a result of family reunification, according to the German Foreign Ministry.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The German Foreign Ministry is expecting up to 300,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq to arrive in Germany this year, the Welt newspaper reported on Sunday.

On Friday, the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said that a little over 90,000 asylum seekers arrived in the country in the first half of 2017, while the office forecast that the number can double by the end of the year.

According to the Welt newspaper, citing the ministry's answer to an information request, the total number of refugee arrivals could raise to 200,000-300,000 by the end of the year as a result of family reunification.

Germany faced an influx of refugees, as it has been the key destination for thousands of migrants coming to Europe since the country announced an open-door refugee policy in the fall of 2015. According to the German Interior Ministry, some 280,000 refugees came to Germany in 2016, which is lower than the 890,000 arrivals recorded in the previous year.