Germany to limit asylum from Maghreb countries

By Ayhan Simsek</p> <p>BERLIN (AA) – The German parliament's lower house approved on Friday a contentious law to limit asylum applications from Georgia and three Maghreb countries Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. </p> <p>Some 509 German lawmakers, mostly from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative-left coalition government, voted in favor of the legislation, which declared Georgia, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia as “safe countries of origin”. </p> <p>Also 138 lawmakers, mainly from the opposition Greens and the Left Party, voted against the draft law. </p> <p>Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has defended government’s plan, saying that last year less than 3 percent of asylum applications from these four countries were found credible. </p> <p>He said the new legislation would speed up the processing of asylum applications and enable faster deportation of illegal migrants. </p> <p>The legislation still needs the approval of the upper house the Bundesrat, where the opposition Greens and Left Party are planing to block it.