Asylum in numbers
The Federal Government has announced figures on refugees and migration in 2015
In January 2016 the Federal Government announced figures on refugees and migration to Germany in 2015. According to the announcement, a total of 476,649 asylum applications were submitted – 135 per cent more than last year. The majority of asylum seekers came from Syria, with 34 per cent of the applications. As a rule, these people are entitled to protection in Germany after the completion of the asylum procedure. Approximately 30 per cent of asylum seekers came from the Balkan countries of Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. In the second half of the year, however, their share steadily decreased, probably because they have now been classified as coming from safe countries of origin, and by December 2015 was only 8 per cent.
Greatest challenge since the post-war period
“The actual number of people who have entered with the purpose of applying for asylum is much higher”, said Federal Minister for the Interior de Maizière. It is estimated at about 1.1 million. The reason for this is that the formal application for asylum is sometimes possible only after a delay and a number of people who have entered Germany move on to other EU countries. “The enormous influx has set us before challenges such as we have not seen since the immediate post-war period”, said de Maizière.
Syria Conference in London, 4 February 2016
