Geneva (dpa) – In 2019, Germany granted a total of nearly 20,000 visas to people from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Venezuela, nearly 16,000 of them for family reunification. The US issued about 14,500 visas in 2019. This was reported on Wednesday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The study analyzed figures from 35 OECD and Brazilian countries. Together, they issued more than 1.5 million visas in the ten years to 2019. Overall, the highest number of people were able to enter the U.S. during the ten-year period, despite the annual number of visas. decreased significantly during the tenure of President Donald Trump. in office.
According to the study, Germany issued about 142,300 visas for Syrian families to join, about 36,100 for Iraqi families and about 13,300 for Afghan families for ten years.
UNHCR does not yet have figures for 2020, but it is assumed that they were significantly lower due to travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
