The German government will be providing financial support to the tune of 2 million euros annually to an NGO engaged in transporting migrants picked up on the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Quite coincidentally, the companion of the Green party vice-president of the German Parliament happens to be a member on the NGO's board.

The German Parliament’s budget committee has decided to use taxpayers’ money to support an organisation that helps illegal migrants rescued on the Mediterranean Sea to arrive on European shores. ‘United4Rescue’ – with links to the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD) – is to receive a total of two million euros annually in the future. The necessary funds – not included in the original budget draft – are to be covered directly from the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ purse. Indirectly, however, this money comes from taxpayers’ pockets. The document, obtained by the newspaper Junge Freiheit, also reveals that the government has earmarked millions for this purpose even for 2026.

Source: Junge Freiheit

The Green Party, part of the governing coalition, is the most pleased with the decision, as they have pushed hard for the measure. „I’m very happy that the life-saving work will also be supported with a contribution from the federal budget,” Katrin Goring-Eckardt, vice-president of the Bundestag, wrote on Twitter.

Heute ist es 3 Jahre her, dass sich aus der evangelischen Kirche heraus der Verein für #Seenotrettung @United4Rescue gegründet hat. Ich bin sehr glücklich, dass es gelungen ist, die lebensrettende Arbeit jetzt auch mit einem Beitrag aus dem Bundeshaushalt unterstützt werden wird. https://t.co/qZVuqCvp99

— Katrin Göring-Eckardt (@GoeringEckardt) November 11, 2022

However, the right-wing opposition party Alternative for Germany (AfD) voiced criticisim. This serves as yet another invitation to migrants, encouraging more and more people to head for Germany, Leif-Erik Holm says, adding that the government is now openly funding people smugglers. The decision will „further fuel the wave of asylum seekers” and „isolate Germany in Europe,” Mr Holm warned. The deputy leader of the AfD also demanded that the millions from taxpayers should be spent on German border protection and strengthening Frontex.

AfD also reacted to the decision in a statement, calling Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock the queen of smugglers. The party also notes that the piquancy of the whole financing issue is that

Parliament Deputy Speaker Katrin Goring-Eckardt’s companion happens to be on the board of NGO „United4Rescue”, which will be receiving this money.

The ships patrol the African coast and „pull economic migrants out of their rubber boats to bring them safely and comfortably to European shores, the party says. Smuggling gangs, as well as the alleged refugees themselves, have long relied on being rescued from the maritime emergencies they cause for themselves,” the AfD explains. also pointing out that

„Among these people came the likes of the knife attackers in Wurzburg and inLudwigshafen, both natives of Somalia. The whole thing is slowly but surely becoming a regular occurrence.”