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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Bavarian ʼtough dogʼ tipped to lead Germanyʼs BAMF refugee agency A Bavarian official known as a "tough dog" for taking a harder line against asylum-seekers is reportedly set to take over at BAMF. The agencyʼs former head was fired on Friday over an asylum application scandal. Hans-Eckhard Sommer, a Bavarian ally of Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, is set to take over as head of Germanyʼs embattled Federal Office of Migration and Refugees(BAMF), German media reported on Sunday. News outlet Focus Online and the DPA news agency reported the move, citing anonymous government sources. The German Interior Ministry in Berlin said it would not "speculate" about personnel decisions. Sommer, reportedly known as a "harter Hund" (tough dog) in government circles, is currently responsible for foreigner and asylum law at the regional Interior Ministry in the southern state of Bavaria. He favors stronger screening of refugeesʼ possible terrorist connections and speeding up deportations of failed asylumseekers, according to Focus Online.

Donald Trump claims Germans are turning against government over migration The US President has waded into the ongoing stand-off between Chancellor Angela Merkel and her interior minister over migration. He said it was a "big mistake" to allow millions of refugees into Europe. US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that Germanyʼs leaders were losing the support of the public over the migration issue. His untimely comments come amid a deepening split between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leader of her coalition ally, Horst Seehofer, over asylum policy and border controls.

137/2018 • 19 JUNE, 2018

Angela Merkel buys time in government crisis over asylum His asylum reform plan could threaten the EU immigration system

Chancellor Angela Merkel has got her Interior Minister Horst Seehofer to agree to wait for an upcoming EU summit before imposing new border controls. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has won a minor victory in her ongoing stand-off with ally Horst Seehofer, interior ministerand leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister-party to her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The crisis last week briefly threatened to break the age-old alliance between the two conservative parties. Merkel managed to getSeehofer to agree to wait for a European summit at the end of the month, so that a new bloc-wide asylum reform could be agreed before he unilaterally imposed new border controls at Germanyʼs borders. In a press conference in Berlin on Monday afternoon, Merkel stressed that the two parties shared the common goals of reducing immigration and better organizing migration into Germany, and that they had agreed to work together. Nevertheless, she signalled she would not accept the CSUʼs brinkmanship on the issue: there would be "no automatism" in shutting borders to asylum-seekers after the EU summit, she said — a phrase that effectively gave herself another deadline extension. While Merkel was an-

swering questions, Seehofer gave his own press conference in Munich, at which he underlined that the chancellor agreed to "62-and-a-half" of the 63 points in his asylum reform "masterplan." He also said he would support the chancellorʼs efforts to make deals with EU partners. At the same time, he said the government did not yet "have the issue of migration under control" and that a lot of work still needed to be done. Maintaining the pressure on Merkel, Seehofer said he wanted to start turning migrants back at the border if EU talks failed to produce results. The row is centered on anasylum system reform plan Seehofer wants to implement in Germany, which would see migrants who had already been registered in another European Union country turned away at the German border. This would potentially disrupt the EUʼs Dublin immigration system and threaten the principle of free movement within the EU, especially if, as Merkel fears, other countries impose similar border controls. Pro-refugee organizations also say it would violate asylum-seekersʼ rights to have their cases heard fairly.

Refugee stands trial in Germany over alleged murder of teen Fifteen-year-old Mia was stabbed to death in the southwestern town of Kandel last December. Her exboyfriend, a refugee, has been charged with her murder, triggering a series of anti-migrant protests. A refugee, who is reportedly from Afghanistan, is on trial for themurder of Mia, a 15-year-old teenager from Kandel with whom he had been in a short relationship. The murder trial, which is being held in the southwestern city of Landau, is not open to the public as the suspect is being tried as a minor. His age has been difficult to ascertain, but authorities believe he was under 18 years of age when he allegedly committed the crime. He is believed to have acted out of jealousy, as the victim broke off the relationship and reported him to police for harassment prior to the murder last December. He reportedly approached Mia in a pharmacy and stabbed her seven times.

US lawmakers, Melania Trump call for end to migrant family separations A White House policy that has split nearly 2,000 migrant children from their families has drawn outrage nationwide, including a rare public comment from Melania Trump. The UN called the practice "unconscionable." President Donald Trump is set to meet with House Republicans this week to discussimmigration legislation, facing pressure over his administrationʼs policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the USMexico border.

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