WD 2 - 3000 – 063/20 (18. August 2020) © 2020 Deutscher Bundestag Die Wissenschaftlichen Dienste des Deutschen Bundestages unterstützen die Mitglieder des Deutschen Bundestages bei ihrer mandatsbezogenen Tätigkeit. Ihre Arbeiten geben nicht die Auffassung des Deutschen Bundestages, eines seiner Organe oder der Bundestagsverwaltung wieder. Vielmehr liegen sie in der fachlichen Verantwortung der Verfasserinnen und Verfasser sowie der Fachbereichsleitung. Arbeiten der Wissenschaftlichen Dienste geben nur den zum Zeitpunkt der Erstellung des Textes aktuellen Stand wieder und stellen eine individuelle Auftragsarbeit für einen Abgeordneten des Bundestages dar. Die Arbeiten können der Geheimschutzordnung des Bundestages unterliegende, geschützte oder andere nicht zur Veröffentlichung geeignete Informationen enthalten. Eine beabsichtigte Weitergabe oder Veröffentlichung ist vorab dem jeweiligen Fachbereich anzuzeigen und nur mit Angabe der Quelle zulässig. Der Fachbereich berät über die dabei zu berücksichtigenden Fragen. German policy distinguishes the field of refugee assistance from that of migration. Germany offers humanitarian aid directly to IDPs and refugees in third states as well as development cooperation to affected countries (that is, the state having IDPs or the host state of refugees). Humanitarian relief efforts (both for IDPs and refugees in third countries) are under the domain of the Foreign Office. They are usually short-term efforts to offer relief in acute humanitarian crises. Usually, they take the form of (financial or logistic) support for efforts by the UN and international organisations such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, e.g., emergency shelter, food and water, sanitation etc. They also include the removal of mines and local disarmament. Development cooperation aiming at IDPs and refugees falls under the domain of the Ministry of Development and Economic Cooperation. These projects are mid- to long-term efforts that address more than emergency relief, such as education, work, economic integration, housing etc. In addition, Germany contributes to purely UN level efforts to address the issues by its annual contributions to agencies such as UNRWA. Germany does not limit humanitarian relief to specific countries. The nature of humanitarian aid as understood by the Federal Government does not allow for the focus on specific regions. German development cooperation, however, focuses on certain partner countries. This does not preclude the possibility of German development cooperation with other countries, but in general, efforts are concentrated on those regions. As of now, German development cooperation has 85 partner countries. In the context of a recently published reform agenda (BMZ 2030), this number is supposed to be reduced to 60, with the percentage of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) among partner states being supposed to rise from 30 to 40 percent. Details can be found here: https://www.bmz.de/en/publications/type_of_publication/information_flyer/information_brochu res/Materilie520_reform_strategy.pdf . Wissenschaftliche Dienste Kurzinformation Assistance of Germany to refugees and migrants in other countries Kurzinformation Assistance of Germany to refugees and migrants in other countries Fachbereich WD 2: Auswärtiges, Völkerrecht, wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, Verteidigung, Menschenrechte und humanitäre Hilfe Wissenschaftliche Dienste Seite 2 Whilst taking into account the special vulnerabilities of certain groups (e.g., children, women, the disabled), there is no special focus on any of them. However, certain priorities are put on specific fields of assistance. In humanitarian aid, Germany puts substantial emphasis on food, shelter, WASH (water and sanitation), education, and the removal of mines and other unexploded ordnance in conflict areas. Germany emphasises a bilateral and multilateral approach. If need be, and if appropriate, both humanitarian and development efforts can include the host community and host country. In fact, Germany strives to support the host country in fulfilling their obligations to refugees under international law and thus development cooperation is always carried out in partnership with the host country. As for funding the efforts, the requisite funds are parts of the general budgets of the Foreign Office and the Ministry for Development and Economic Cooperation. The budget is variable in each budgetary year and can change within a budget year, as well. The laws concerning the Federal Budget allow for new or additional budgets being allocated by the Bundestag. As for the results: the number of projects and efforts being supported and having been supported in the past is too great to give a comprehensive answer or evaluation. The Foreign Office sends annual reports to the Bundestag. Furthermore, humanitarian aid specifically is the topic of a special report. Furthermore, the members of the Committee for Humanitarian Aid request and receive information regularly. Intermediate and final reports on development projects are publicly available on the websites and in the annual reports of the organisations carrying out German development cooperation, most notably the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German International Cooperation, GIZ). Members of the Bundestag can at every time request information from the Federal Ministry, and members of the Development Committee regularly do so. Furthermore, the Ministry sends a general report on the effectiveness and goals of German development cooperation to the Bundestag every four years. ***