CAIRO – Leading German Muslim organizations have come together under one umbrella group to coordinate and expand assistance to thousands of refugees who arrived in Germany last year.

“The refugee situation presents all of us Muslims with great challenges,” Nurhan Soykan, the general secretary of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD), told Deutsche Welle.

“It is important and necessary to pool our forces in order to support newly arriving people in the best way, to incorporate them and offer them opportunities,” Soykan, the newly elected head of the new body, added.

Along with ZMD, Islamic Council of Germany and Islamic Society of Shiite Communities announced the formation of the refugee aid umbrella group under the “Union of Muslim Refugee Help.”

Being active already in helping refugees, the Muslim organizations hope the new body will help them organize their efforts in a better way.

The new group will be entitled to organize volunteers and full-time helpers, while also developing new projects.

It also sent letters to relevant government authorities offering help and support in responding to the refugee crisis in Germany.

Germany has Europe’s second-biggest Muslim population after France, and Islam comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity.

It has between 3.8 and 4.3 million Muslims, making up some five percent of the total 82 million population, according to government-commissioned studies.

For German Muslims, welcoming refugees is a religious duty of sheltering those in calamity.

The number of newcomers is enormous. Of the more than 800,000 new asylum seekers expected in Germany this year, some 80 percent are Muslims, according to the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD).

More than 161,000 Syrians now live in Germany and the number is expected to grow further, making it the largest Syrian community in Europe.