Migration - Over 300,000 asylum applications since the beginning of the year
More than 300,000 people have applied for asylum in Germany for the first time this year. This is according to statistics published on Thursday by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf). According to the figures, in addition to Syrians and Afghans, many people from Turkey are now also applying for protection in Germany.
According to the Bamf, 304,581 foreigners applied for asylum in Germany for the first time between the beginning of January and the end of November - around 60 percent more than in the same period last year. More than 21,000 of these applications were for children under the age of one born in Germany. With more than 55,000 asylum applications since the beginning of the year, Turkey has been the country of origin with the highest number of applications in 2023 after Syria, ahead of Afghanistan.
"Such a development is unacceptable for a NATO partner and EU accession aspirant," said Andrea Lindholz, deputy chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. The CSU politician accused the coalition government of neglecting this development.
Unauthorized entries on the decline since October
A few days ago, Lindholz had asked the federal government about possible reasons for the increase in the number of Turkish nationals entering Germany. According to the Ministry of the Interior, this is partly due to "the situation in Turkey as well as the individual circumstances of the Turkish nationals arriving here".
The number of unauthorized entries has decreased significantly since October. However, as it usually takes several weeks between entry and the formal application for asylum, this decline is not yet reflected in the Bamf's statistics.
"Unimpressed, the traffic light party is sticking to its paradigm shift in migration policy and is even now whipping turbo naturalization through the Bundestag," criticized Alexander Throm (CDU), the spokesperson for domestic policy for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Without the increase in the number of rejections made possible by border controls, even more people would come to Germany irregularly, he added. It was therefore important to extend these controls, which were introduced in mid-October, to the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in the long term.
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- The CDU/CSU parliamentary group, led by Andrea Lindholz, criticizes the German government for not addressing the increase in asylum applications from Turkey properly.
- Asylum applications from Syrians, Afghans, and Turks have significantly increased in Germany, with over 300,000 applications in the first eleven months of 2023.
- A majority of the asylum applications come from adults, but more than 21,000 applications were made on behalf of children under one year old born in Germany.
- The decline in unauthorized entries since October is not yet reflected in the Bamf's statistics due to the time lag between entry and the submission of the asylum application.
- Andrea Lindholz, from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, raised concerns about the increase in the number of Turkish nationals applying for asylum due to the situation in Turkey and individual circumstances.
- The union's parliamentary group spokesperson for domestic policy, Alexander Throm (CDU), argues that without stricter border controls, the number of irregular entries would increase further.
- With an increased rejection rate made possible by border controls, more people would be deterred from entering Germany irregularly, according to Throm.
Source: www.stern.de
