Fewer applications for political asylum in Germany
The numbers are falling and the emphasis now is on integration.
In 2016, there were some 65.6 million forcible displaced persons world-wide, or so the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR announced on the occasion of World Refugee Day. In other words, about 300,000 more people were forced to flee their homes than in 2015. However, the increase has slowed down, as in prior years it had consistently leaped by seven digits a year.
In Germany, recently far fewer people have applied for political asylum than in 2015 and in the first nine months of 2016. While in May 2016, more than 54,000 applications were submitted, in May 2017 the figure was just short of 16,000. One reason for the drop in the number of refugees is that one of the most important escape routes through the Balkans has been closed down. The bulk of the refugees in Germany continue to come from Syria, almost every fourth applicant originates from the country ravaged by civil war. About every tenth asylum seeker comes from Iraq, while the third largest group is refugees from Afghanistan.
Digital refugee summit
Policy-makers and civil society are meanwhile focussing more strongly on the successful integration of refugees rather than on immediate aid – one example being the Digital Refugee Summit on 27 June 2017 in Berlin. It is being organized by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees as well as the education and innovation platforms Betterplace Lab, Initiative D21 and OpenTransfer. The hosts are inviting participants to team up with refugees to improve digital integration projects and develop new approaches in this regard.
