Germany: Pro-refugee activists rally outside foreigners' registration office in Berlin

Members of Germany's Green Party and pro-refugee campaigners demonstrated outside the registration office for foreigners in Berlin, Monday. The protesters have the joint aim to welcome refugees who have recently arrived in the German capital, and to demand reforms at the registration office. The campaigners want the centre to renamed "welcome centre" and for staff to receive diversity training to offer increased help to international clientele. Thousands of refugees entered Germany over the weekend, travelling from Hungary via Austria following German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to declare Germany's suspension of the Dublin Regulation. The regulation states that migrants can only claim asylum in the country they first enter on European Union (EU) territory; with them potentially facing deportation should they try any other country. However, Germany is now permitting officers to process applications of asylum seekers even if they travelled through other EU countries first. Authorities estimate that up to 800,000 people could apply for asylum in Germany by the end of 2015.