Germany offers money for migrants who go back home

Germany wants to support rejected asylum-seekers who voluntarily move back to their home countries with a one-time payment of 3,000 euros ($3,570). (Photo by Supermac1961/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

BERLIN — Germany wants to support rejected asylum-seekers who voluntarily move back to their home countries with a one-time payment of 3,000 euros ($3,570).

The Interior Ministry says those who qualify can apply by a Feb. 28 deadline and they would get the money once they return home.

Migrants who agree to go back even before their asylum request is rejected have already been offered 1,200 euros per adult and 600 euros per child under a different program for almost a year. They are now eligible to apply for both programs.

But the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported Sunday that 8,639 migrants participated in the returnee program between February and October, even though there are about 115,000 rejected asylum-seekers in Germany —many of whom can’t be deported for humanitarian reasons.