Germany denies it was asked to take in African migrants from Israel

Germany says it has not been consulted about any plans to resettle there African migrants currently in Israel, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu naming the country as a possible location to move asylum seekers, under a new agreement with the United Nations.

Some 16,250 African migrants in Israel will be resettled in “developed” Western countries, while a similar number will be allowed to stay and given temporary residency, under a new agreement reached with the UN refugee agency, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier.

“This agreement will allow for the departure from Israel of 16,250 migrants to developed countries like Canada or Germany or Italy,” Netanyahu said, without elaborating.

The German embassy in Israel however, told The Times of Israel that is does not know of any such plans.

“Germany has always fully complied with its humanitarian obligations in recent years, i.e., through the admission of resettlement refugees, and will continue to do so in the future,” a statement says.

But it adds, “a request to accept refugees living in Israel, in particular from African countries, as part of the resettlement program of the UNHCR in Germany, is not known to us.

— with Raphael Ahren