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German gov't provides additional money amid refugee wave

Xinhua, August 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

The German government decided on Wednesday to provide an additional 500 million euros (570 million U.S. dollars) in refugee aid for state and local governments this year amid the current wave of asylum seekers entering Germany.

The additional money, according to a government statement, will be used for providing food, medical care and accommodation to asylum seekers and refugees. The aim is to reduce the financial burden on Germany's state governments and local authorities caused by the influx of people.

European countries, including Germany, are struggling to deal with an increasing number of refugees. The German government estimated that up to 800,000 people would request asylum in Germany by the end of the year.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has announced a series of domestic political initiatives to deal with the record-breaking wave of refugees.

They are: increasing the capacity of preliminary reception centers for refugees in Germany from the current 45,000 people to 125,000 by winter, and establishing four regional "decision centers" in the coming weeks to reduce the backlog of about 250,000 unprocessed asylum requests.

Also on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for close cooperation between the German federal government, state governments, and local authorities after she visited a refugee home hit by far-right violent protests.

She also said the German government was planning to amend laws in September in order to better deal with the refugee issue. Endit