© dpa
Last year, the Berlin Hardship Commission helped rejected asylum seekers to obtain a residence permit in 143 cases.
This was announced by the Senate Interior Administration on Thursday. According to the report, the commission submitted 158 such requests to Senator of the Interior Iris Spranger (SPD). Of these, 90.5 per cent (143 cases) were approved, meaning that the State Office for Immigration was able to grant the people a residence permit.
The six main countries of origin of those affected were Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Iran, Ghana and Pakistan. According to the data, 96 per cent of cases were approved in 2022 (2021: 76.7 per cent; 2020: 72.4 per cent). The exact number of people behind the cases mentioned last year was not disclosed. According to the data, the Hardship Commission received a total of 278 cases involving 427 people in 2023. In twelve meetings, 191 cases were discussed, 158 of which resulted in a request to the Interior Administration.
The Hardship Commission includes representatives from churches, welfare organisations and the Refugee Council as well as the Senate's Integration and Migration Commissioner, Katarina Niewiedzial. The committee examines individual cases to determine whether foreign nationals who are obliged to leave the country can stay after all for humanitarian reasons.