Daily influx of 700 new asylum applicants

Nearly 700 refugees come daily.

Nearly 100,000 new asylum seekers have entered Germany since the beginning of the year; this number is likely to keep rising due to seasonal factors. But the German government has recently reported some achievements in securing its borders. Has Interior Minister Faeser managed to reverse this trend?

According to the latest data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), about 700 new asylum seekers are showing up in Germany daily. Between January and April 2024, a total of 84,984 initial applications were submitted. By May, this figure may likely surpass 100,000. Syria yielded the most applications with a total of 26,193, followed by Afghanistan (13,011) and Turkey (11,789), while Iraq had 3,685 applicants. A significant number of children are among the new arrivals, with 11,563 first-time applicants under the age of 4. Around 71.6% of newly arrived asylum seekers are under 30, and an astonishing 35.1% are minors. More than two-thirds of those seeking asylum in Germany are male.

Political debates in Germany now center on how to interpret the figures. The political fringe, including the AfD and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, claim that the situation remains out of control. The AfD has been urging for years to close "Germany's asylum paradise," while Wagenknecht has been asserting for months that "Germany is overwhelmed; Germany has no more room; Germany is no longer prepared to be the primary destination." The CDU/CSU has also spoken out against disordered immigration and has advocated for a "multi-year pause in irregular migration."

The Christian Democrats have only recently called for a shift in migration policy in their new fundamental program, which includes asylum procedures in safe third countries.

Border controls prove effective

The government, however, states that progress is being made "cautiously," and "unordered migration is increasingly being brought under control." The 84,984 initial applications are a slight decrease from the preceding year. Compared to January to April 2023, there was a 16.7% decrease in the number of applications this year. In April specifically, there were 17,500 first-time applications, a 10.8% decrease from the previous year (April 2023: 19,629 individuals).

One factor contributing to the falling numbers is the more rigorous border controls in place. The Federal Ministry of the Interior imposed border checks with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland in October 2023. These controls will remain in effect until June 15, 2024, at least until the start of the European Football Championship. The most significant reduction was observed at the Polish-German border, where the number of initial applications dropped sharply, from 2,268 cases in 2023 to only 450 in 2024. At the German-Czech border, the figures dropped by more than half. The new border controls have led to more arrests and seizures for human trafficking as well. In the first quarter of 2023, there were 1,414 seizures at the borders, which rose to 2,474 this year.

CDU: Enhance rejections

The CDU praised the government's change in strategy: "We have gained some measure of control over our borders," stated Christoph de Vries, a CDU interior expert, in the Welt daily. However, the CDU/CSU favors extending the border control measures further: "People who have already applied for asylum in another EU country should also be turned back at the border," said de Vries. "This could greatly reduce secondary migration in the EU."

The SPD and Green party leaders, previously opposed to border controls, have recently shifted their position. But Faeser has emphasized the effectiveness of the new border control policy during a visit to the German-Czech control center in Waidhaus: "You can see here how strongly we are acting. Against the brutal and reprehensible smuggling of migrants, but also to limit irregular migration. And there is a clear decrease in the number of applicants we've seen," asserted the Social Democrat. Faeser also announced that the controls would continue beyond the European Football Championship.

Is the third-country solution on the horizon?

Faeser has thus differentiated herself from the Greens, who back lifting controls as soon as possible. She is also vigorously challenging the new EU asylum reform, which proposes stronger protection of the EU's external borders. The Greens in the European Parliament, specifically Terry Reintke, criticize her stance. Reintke is the lead candidate for the German and European Greens in the upcoming European elections.

Under the new EU regulation, every immigrant will undergo a thorough check and registration process at the external borders. Interior Minister Faeser is pleased with this change, explaining that anyone with a low chance of protection in the EU will undergo a constitutional asylum process at the border and, if denied, will need to leave from there. She believes this is necessary to continue safeguarding individuals whose lives are endangered by war and terrorism.

However, the Greens are highly skeptical of the proposed external border camps, where people (including families) could potentially be detained for an indefinite period during the planned expedited examination procedures.

Faeser's actions might have signaled a shift in Germany's asylum policy, even though the existing statistics only show a minor improvement. She is currently perplexing her coalition partners and is even contemplating moving asylum procedures to third countries - like the Italy-Albania or UK-Rwanda models. The outcomes of these assessments are expected to be reported at the next Minister Presidents' Conference on June 20. While the Greens strongly object to this idea, the FDP supports it. The FDP parliamentary group leader, Christian Dürr, shares this sentiment, stating, "I think it would be suitable for us to consider conducting asylum procedures in third countries outside Europe."