Germany: Asylum Application Rates Drop But Not for the Big Three – Syria, Afghanistan and Türkiye – SchengenVisaInfo.com

A total of 12,317 first-time asylum applications were filed by asylum seekers during June in Germany, the authorities have revealed.

According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), the application rates recorded in June represent 14.5 per cent of the total first-time asylum requests filed since the year began, which peaks at 84,583, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

During the first half of the year, 97,249 people applied for asylum in Germany, with 12,666 of those being follow-up applications and the overall application rates increasing evidently since 2021. More specifically, 19.6 per cent more people had sought asylum in Germany between January and June 2022 compared to the corresponding time last year when such rates stood at 81,284.

As per June rates, similar to the two previous months, the three main countries of origin for asylum applications filed were Syrians (3,625), Afghanis (2,064), and Turks (1,328).

The list of nationalities to apply the most for asylum in June remains unchanged compared to the other months, with Iraq (845), Georgia (53), Iran (365), Unexplained (323), Somalia (275), Eritrea (207) and Moldova (181), following in the list.

However, compared to the other months, the number of Turk nationals seeking international protection in Germany is on the rise – from 779 in April to 1,075 in May and 1,328 in June, while the number of Iraqi nationals filing for asylum has dropped from 1,062 in May to 845 in June.

In addition, 12,706 of the first-time applications in 2020 were related to infant children (under one-year-old) born in Germany.

As per nationalities, Syrians accounted for over a quarter of all applications filed (26 per cent), with the majority of those applications being first-time requests – 24,492 or 96.7 per cent and the rest being follow-up requests.

Afghanistan is the second-largest nationality group with the most asylum applications submitted so far this year, filing 17,549 applications – 2,456 or 14 per cent of those being subsequent requests while 15,093 being first-time applications, which could indicate the asylum seekers are new arrivals in the country.

After Moldovans, which have the highest ratio of subsequent applications filed (1,544 out of 2,841 or 54.3 per cent of the total), Afghan nationals are the second group with the highest second-time filed applications.

“In the same period, the Federal Office decided on 110,162 initial and follow-up applications, the overall protection rate was 53.5 per cent. The applications of 24,689 persons were rejected, 26,558 procedures related to so-called other procedures ( e.g. Dublin procedures or procedures discontinued due to withdrawal of the asylum application),” the press release explains.

In addition, 105,521 cases were pending by the end of June. Other countries of origin on the top ten list of asylum applications filed include Iraq (8,038),  Türkiye (6,748), Georgia (3,852), Different countries (2,390), Somalia (2,344), Iran (2,426), Eritrea (1,752) and Moldova (2,841).