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The Federal Office of Administration calculated admitting thousands of unaccompanied child migrants will cost the astronomical sum, but German politicians are saying this is no longer necessary.

Michael Kretschmer, of the [CDU/CSU] Union at the Bundestag, said: "When parentless minors from Poland or France are picked up in Germany, the family is found and they are brought back to their parents. When the unaccompanied minor comes from Afghanistan or Africa though, we bring him to the youth office and prepare him for permanent immigration with great effort, even if the teenager talks to his family on the phone every night."

He wants the authorities to "try to find the parents with the help of mobile data, in order to be able to at least deport some unaccompanied persons".

The special protection obligation against minors states: "Before the deportation of an unaccompanied underage foreigner, the authority must ensure that the latter is handed over to a member of his family, a person entitled to provide personal care or a suitable accommodation facility in the country of return."