The leading court of the EU has ruled that some migrants in Germany can be restricted to living in specific locations if this helps their social integration.
German authorities had imposed residence conditions on two Syrians who entered the country in 1998 and in 2001 and were given subsidiary protection status which is one notch removed from qualifying as refugees.
The men challenged their residence requirement in a German court which referred the matter to the European Court of Justice.
The ECJ said the EU regulations allow people in their position to move freely in the country where they have protective status in the same way as other non-EU nationals.
While it ruled that EU countries could not assign people to specific locations in order to balance the distribution of social benefits, it also said that national authorities could impose restrictions in cases where those with protection status “face greater difficulties relating to integration than other non-EU citizens”.
"The (EU) Directive does not prevent beneficiaries of subsidiary protection status from being subject to a residence condition for the purpose of promoting their integration, even if that condition does not apply to other non-EU citizens legally resident," the court ruled.
