Germany no longer first of all in the case of asylum applications in the EU

According to a media report, Germany is no longer the leader in the EU. That reports the Welt am Sonntag Citing a report by the EU Commission of April 2. The leader in the asylum applications is therefore France With 40,871 registered asylum applications between January 1 and March 31 of this year. Behind it followed Spain (39,318 asylum applications) and Germany.

In Germany, the number of protection applications in the first quarter of the current year has decreased by 41 percent compared to the comparable period last year to 37,387 applications. Be in the bottom Hungary With 22 asylum applications and Slovakia with 37 applications – Two countries with a particularly hard course in migration policy.

42 percent fewer asylum applications in the first three months of 2025

The number of people looking for protection in Germany has decreased for the first time since the increase in 2021. This balance sheet presented executive Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser in Berlin in early April. She is therefore satisfied with her tenure, as she says: « Our goal was to strengthen the immigration of work and specialists, effectively limit the irregular migration and effectively combat the smuggling crime. We have made a lot of progress in all three areas. »

Because the number of applications also decreased by 30.2 percent compared to 2023. The decline in the total number of applications was even clearer. Faeser sees this as a success of her policy: « We have accelerated and digitized asylum procedures, and we have further strengthened the Federal Office for Refugees and Migration. » Above all, the number of unauthorized entry has dropped, also thanks to border controls and a harder approach to smugglers.

According to the head of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Hans-Eckhard Sommer, a main cause of the decline is that Serbia actually blocked the refugee route to Hungary in November 2023. It is open whether this will remain so permanently. The head of the agency recently presented a proposal at an event at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation that contradicts the course of its minister. He wants to get away from the examination of individual asylum applications and towards humanitarian recordings over quotas. So asylum is no more than an enforceable right for an indefinite number of people, but in the form of a so -called upper limit.

Cominet politicians from the Greens and Leftists are now demanding the resignation of summer. Faeser was also criticized by the left-wing MP Clara Bünger: « Anyone who celebrates deportation and rejection as political success devalues ​​and places human rights on disposition. We urgently need a U-turn in migration policy-away from defense, towards solidarity and human dignity. » The fact that the outgoing interior minister will also be the future is unlikely: In a new federal government under a Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) the Union is likely to claim the Ministry of the Interior.

The course change proposed by Sommer was well received by the Union faction’s parliamentary managing director, Thorsten Frei (CDU). « The fact that I have a certain sympathy towards this proposal can already be seen from the fact that I have already submitted this proposal, » he said at RTL/NTV. There were no talk of this in the ongoing coalition negotiations.

Syria is still the main country of origin of those seeking protection

A quarter of all protective requests in Germany are according to the report of the Welt am Sonntag provided by people from Syria (24 percent). The number of protection seekers from this country of origin has been high since 2013. This was the time when the Syrian civil war came into its most intense phase and many people fled. To date, Syria has been one of the most common countries of origin of those seeking protection, although the number has declined somewhat compared to the years of the largest crisis around 2015. Nevertheless, many people still flee because the humanitarian situation in many areas is still catastrophic.

However, most people seeking protection in the EU and Switzerland and Norway came from Venezuela, according to the Cited EU report, only followed by asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Syria. Overall, the number of asylum applications from Venezuelans rose by 44 percent in the first quarter of this year. Applications for asylum from Ukrainians, Chinese and Indians also rose sharply. In contrast, people from Syria, Colombia and Turkey applied for significantly less asylum during this period. France has become number one for Ukrainians. (with dpa)