Germany has a plan to take in tens of thousands of Christian Iraqi refugees, German Interior Ministry spokesman Markus Beyer said here on Monday.
Beyer told press that Berlin is to seek the support from the European Union (EU) for the plan, which will benefit tens of thousands of Christians who have given up hope that their ancient community in Iraq can survive.
German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has spoken out in favor of taking in a large contingent of the hundreds of thousands of Christians who have fled Iraq to refugee camps in Jordan.
Beyer said a German invitation was "mutually conditional" on a joint EU agreement to take in the refugees, but refused to be drawn on how Berlin would react if EU ministers disagreed at an upcoming meeting.
The state of Lower Saxony proposed Monday that the Friedland refugee camp, which accommodates declining numbers of ethnic German immigrants from eastern Europe and Russia, be used as a first home for the Iraqis.
The Catholic and Lutheran churches have pressed for Germany, which opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, to take in 20,000 to 30,000 refugees.
German Foreign Ministry data suggests an original Iraqi Christian population of 800,000 had halved by 2005 to 400,000.
Source:Xinhua
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