Latest news with #FederalOfficeforMigrationandRefugees
Epoch Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Germany to Turn Away More Asylum Seekers at Border
The new German government has ordered the pushback of more illegal immigrants and asylum seekers at the nation's borders. On the first day of the new administration, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt issued the order on 'This issue is about clarity, consistency and control. We are not going to close the borders, but we are going to control the borders more strictly and this stronger control of the borders will also lead to a higher number of rejections,' Dobrindt 'We will ensure that, step by step, more police forces are deployed at the borders and can also carry out these push-backs.' He added that vulnerable people, including children and pregnant women, would not be rejected at the German border. 'It's not a question of starting to reject everyone in full tomorrow, but of ensuring, bit by bit, that the excessive demands are reduced, that we reduce the numbers and that we send a clear signal to the world and to Europe that the policy in Germany has changed,' Dobrindt said in comments published in Related Stories 5/2/2025 5/6/2025 The order rescinds the de facto 2015 practice under former Chancellor Angela Merkel that allowed one million undocumented immigrants to enter Germany at the border if they claimed asylum. At the time, Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees announced, in one single social-media As a result, Germany became the In January, Merz, whose new government formally His administration, in coalition with the centre-left SPD, has the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) hot on its heels, which touts a harder line on immigration and has been consistently polling as the country's second-most popular party. Merz Last week, Germany's domestic intelligence agency officially classified AfD as A survey by Ipsos in AfD announced that it was suing the country's domestic intelligence service for classifying it as a 'right-wing extremist organization.' Dobrindt's policy is in line with Europe which is Under the EU's Pact on Migration and Asylum, member states can strike agreements with non-EU states to handle asylum claims extraterritorially, potentially setting up processing centers in North Africa or beyond. Illegal immigrants are entering the EU primarily via Mediterranean sea crossings from North Africa and by overland routes through Poland and the Balkans, according to data from Frontex, the European Border, and Coast Guard Agency. Under pressure from parties with more hardline immigration platforms, establishment political parties have steadily abandoned their once-progressive immigration stances and supported the reintroduction of In 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen She also suggested sending those with no right to stay in the EU to 'return hubs' in non-EU countries, such as Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Senegal, and Mali. No such hubs have been established yet.
Hindustan Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Germany halts Afghan refugee admission flights pending new government decision
BERLIN, - Germany's outgoing government has suspended flights for voluntary admissions of Afghan refugees for two weeks pending a decision by the next government on how to proceed, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, the future governing coalition of conservatives and Social Democrats agreed to curb irregular migration, reflecting a mounting public backlash after several violent attacks by migrants as well as increasing pressure on housing and other infrastructure. After the Western allies' hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Germany felt a strong obligation to protect former local staff of German agencies and humanitarian organisations there, and established several programmes to resettle them along with particularly vulnerable Afghans. According to the Federal Foreign Office, a total of 36,000 people have entered Germany under such voluntary programmes, including a good 20,000 who were local staff and their families. Around 2,600 people approved for admission by Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees are currently waiting in Pakistan for a German visa and charter flights, 350 of whom are former local employees, the foreign office added. In addition to receiving admission approval, applicants must complete a visa process and security screening involving the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Police, and the Federal Criminal Police Office. The current Greens-led foreign ministry said that existing admission confirmations were legally binding and could only be revoked under specific conditions. This meant it could be difficult for the new government to cancel them regardless of who takes over the interior or foreign ministries. Germany's outgoing government arranged several resettlement flights in recent weeks, drawing criticism from conservative politicians who argued that the SPD-Greens coalition was rushing to admit new arrivals before it hands over. "For several weeks now, we've been seeing planes arrive in Germany on a daily basis. I believe that's wrong. It creates the impression that an outgoing federal government is trying to establish facts on the ground in its final days," Thorsten Frei, a parliamentary leader of the conservative bloc, said. ProAsyl, a German NGO providing legal help to asylum seekers, warned that halting the final rescue flights would leave vulnerable Afghans at risk of torture or death if returned to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. "The German government itself has determined their endangerment ... A return or deportation to Afghanistan could mean torture or even death for them," said Wiebke Judith, ProAsyl legal policy spokesperson.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany's asylum rate drops in 2025 after pause on Syrian decisions
Fewer asylum seekers were granted protection status in Germany in January and February compared to the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) on Friday. Some 19.1% of applicants were granted protection status or the right to remain due to a ban on deportations during the first two months of the year compared to 45% during the same period in 2024. The lower protection rate was mainly due to decisions being paused on applications from Syrian nationals following the overthrow of Syria's long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. The Interior Ministry justified the temporary halt on decisions with the dynamic situation in the country. Syria continues to top the list of the main countries of origin for asylum seekers in Germany, with Syrian nationals accounting for 27.7% of asylum applications in February, followed by Afghans at 15.3% and Turkish applicants at 10%, the BAMF figures showed. Despite the lower protection rate, BAMF has made 55,070 decisions on asylum applications in the last two months, which is consistent with the 54,705 decisions it made during the same period last year. The average duration for the process was 12.3 months in February, as the office works through a backlog caused in part by the high number of applications in 2023. Those who submitted an application in the last 12 months received a decision after an average of 4.3 months, BAMF noted. The number of first-time asylum applications in Germany decreased to 229,751 in 2024, a 30.2% drop from 2023. The number of asylum applications in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland also fell during this period by 12%, according to the EU asylum agency.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany's asylum rate drops in 2025 after pause on Syrian decisions
Fewer asylum seekers were granted protection status in Germany in January and February compared to the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) on Friday. Some 19.1% of applicants were granted protection status or the right to remain due to a ban on deportations during the first two months of the year compared to 45% during the same period in 2024. The lower protection rate was mainly due to decisions being paused on applications from Syrian nationals following the overthrow of Syria's long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. The Interior Ministry justified the temporary halt on decisions with the dynamic situation in the country. Syria continues to top the list of the main countries of origin for asylum seekers in Germany, with Syrian nationals accounting for 27.7% of asylum applications in February, followed by Afghans at 15.3% and Turkish applicants at 10%, the BAMF figures showed. Despite the lower protection rate, BAMF has made 55,070 decisions on asylum applications in the last two months, which is consistent with the 54,705 decisions it made during the same period last year. The average duration for the process was 12.3 months in February, as the office works through a backlog caused in part by the high number of applications in 2023. Those who submitted an application in the last 12 months received a decision after an average of 4.3 months, BAMF noted. The number of first-time asylum applications in Germany decreased to 229,751 in 2024, a 30.2% drop from 2023. The number of asylum applications in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland also fell during this period by 12%, according to the EU asylum agency.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany sees 43% drop in asylum applications in early 2025
Germany has received around 43% fewer first-time asylum applications in January and February 2025 than it did during the same period last year, government sources told dpa on Thursday. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees registered 26,674 first-time applications and 3,273 follow-up applications in the first two months of the year. As in previous years, the figures showed that most of the applications were submitted by Syrian nationals. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser sees the decline in asylum figures as confirmation that the government's measures on migration are working. "We have greatly reduced irregular migration," she told dpa, adding that Germany is also deporting more people who do not have the right to remain in the country. According to the information provided, 1,733 people obliged to leave the country were deported from Germany in January, around 30.9% more than in January last year. In October 2023, Faeser expanded border checks to all of Germany's land borders, even though all of the country's neighbours are members of the visa-free Schengen Area. Friedrich Merz, Germany's likely next chancellor, has promised even tougher measures on migration, saying he will order the Interior Ministry to "reject all attempts at illegal entry without exception" on his first day of office. But Merz's most likely coalition partners, the Social Democrats, have warned that such a course could violate EU law. The number of asylum applications fell in 2024 across the European Union, Norway and Switzerland, with the EU asylum agency registering 1,008 million first-time applications across the 29 countries in 2024, a decrease of around 12% compared to the previous year.
