Germany

Germany continues to grapple with the implications of the large numbers of asylum seekers and other migrants who arrived in 2015 and 2016. Authorities restricted family reunification rights and conditioned access to benefits and permanent residence status. Amid a wave of arson attacks on asylum-seeker accommodation, there were modest steps to address the shortcomings in Germany’s response to hate crimes, including to improve the investigation and prosecution of racially motivated crimes. A number of attacks, some inspired or claimed by ISIS, prompted efforts to increase coordination among intelligence agencies, and a problematic measure to surveil journalists outside Germany.