MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The press release notes that approximately 25,000 families have been reunited thus far, with 85 percent of successful applicants being women. The FAP's target is to reunite 35,000 families from the region.
"As the region continues to suffer from conflict, each year we see an increased demand for additional resettlement and family reunification options… Now is the time for governments, civil society and international organizations to work together to offer additional safe, orderly and legal options for people fleeing violence, rather than forcing them to risk irregular migration," Lado Gvilava, IOM Turkey Chief of Mission, was quoted as saying in the press release.
IOM operates FAP offices in Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, with financial aid from Germany.
Successful applicants receive residency permits corresponding to the duration of those held by their family members in Germany.
Germany has been the key destination for hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants coming to Europe since the start of 2015. Some 280,000 refugees came to Germany in 2016, compared to 890,000 arrivals in the previous year, according to the German Interior Ministry.
