Offenbach (dpa / lhe) – The Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN) is committed to accepting more refugees from the destroyed Greek camp Moria. Church President Volker Jung appealed to Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) and the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) on Saturday.
It was “shameful for a Europe that also sees itself as a community of values” that no more refugees than previously agreed would be accepted, said Jung before the Church Synod meeting in Offenbach. As early as March, he asked Hessen to accept 1,000 refugees and Rhineland-Palatinate 650 people seeking help.
After the major fire in the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos on the night of September 9, a good 12,000 migrants were made homeless. After the catastrophic fire, Germany announced that it would take in 1,553 refugees from five Greek islands. There are 408 families with children who have already been recognized in Greece as in need of protection.
On Saturday the synod also passed a supplementary budget for the current year. Due to the economic consequences of the corona pandemic, the EKHN expects that it will earn 60 million euros less this year. This includes 50 million euros less church taxes than originally planned, reported the EKHN. Only around 480 million euros are now expected. The revised budget plans to spend 690 million euros.
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