The number of asylum applications rose sharply in October

After asylum immigration had been increasing significantly since the middle of last year, it has now increased again by leaps and bounds. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), 23,918 initial applications were made in October, more than in one month for almost six years. According to BAMF statistics, this value was last exceeded in November 2016 (24,574).

Before that, at the peak of the migration crisis since March 2015, significantly more applications were made, sometimes monthly, but this was not very meaningful at that time because many more people entered the country than submitted applications, which they did with some delay.

The currently extremely strong influx of asylum seekers is taking place at the same time as hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Ukraine are being taken in. However, they do not have to apply for asylum, but are given a protection title without a procedure.

According to BAMF, the approximately 23,900 initial applications in October mean another 28 percent more than in September. Compared to October of the previous year, it was 80 percent more. As in September, the main nationalities were Syria (8975), Afghanistan (3682) and Turkey (3324).

Almost all of the asylum seekers arriving in Germany entered via safe neighboring countries and were therefore already protected from war or persecution there. Nevertheless, they usually receive an asylum procedure in Germany, which usually leads to permanent residence in the Federal Republic.

All previous attempts to respond to the unauthorized entry of asylum seekers from other EU states with more frequent Dublin transfers back to the responsible states have been largely unsuccessful.

So far, the traffic light government has not found a way to bring a larger proportion of those arriving in Germany back to the responsible states. In the case of Greece in particular, an expansion of social benefits for unemployed refugees would be necessary because German courts consider the minimum standards there to be in violation of human rights and prevent return transfers.

The relocation of refugees who have already been recognized in Greece to Germany are an important reason for the overall increase in arrivals. They are not brought back even if they are able to work and are not dependent on the inadequate social benefits for the unemployed in Greece. The number of Syrian newcomers in October rose by 130 percent compared to the same month last year and by 42 percent compared to September.

Among other things, Germany is the main destination for Syrians, Afghans, Turks, Iraqis and many asylum seekers of other nationalities in Europe because the risk of deportation is low, the job opportunities are good and the integration of the newcomers is comparatively well taken care of here.

Just 11,982 foreigners were deported in 2021, including only 4,202 to non-European countries. Around 300,000 people who are obliged to leave the country are currently living in the country, around two-thirds of whom are rejected asylum seekers, the rest were obliged to leave the country because of criminal offenses or expired visas.

However, four out of five persons who are obliged to leave the country have a Duldung. This means that although they remain obliged to leave the country, the state assures them that they will not be deported in the medium term. This affects many Afghans or Syrians who are generally not deported to their homeland because of the poor security situation.

But also, for example, to the Central African Republic and the Ivory Coast there was only one deportation in 2021, to Morocco only three. 361 people were returned to Turkey - although almost 3,300 asylum applications from Turks were rejected.