Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
Osnabruck (ots)
Asylum seekers have to wait longer for a decision: an average of 7.6 months
Large differences depending on the country of origin and federal state
Osnabruck. Asylum seekers in Germany have to wait longer for a decision. Last year, the average duration of asylum procedures was 7.6 months – one month more than in 2021. This is the result of a response from the Federal Ministry of the Interior to a small question from Left MP Clara Bünger, which the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (NOZ) has received . One of the reasons for this may be the increasing number of asylum seekers.
The value is thus back to the level before the corona pandemic in 2018 (7.5 months). After that, the average duration had increased to 8.3 months by 2020 because the offices worked more slowly due to the corona pandemic and at times no notifications were sent at all. According to EU law, asylum procedures should generally be completed within six months.
Depending on their country of origin, asylum seekers had to wait significantly longer for a decision last year than the average. The procedures for asylum seekers from Nigeria (12.3 months), Somalia (11.1 months) and Ghana (10.7 months) took the longest. Despite the high chances of success, people from Afghanistan only received their decision after an average of 9.1 months.
There are also clear regional differences. For example, in Bad Fallingbostel (Heidekreis) in Lower Saxony, procedures for asylum seekers from Iraq take 30.4 months (instead of the national average of 8.6 months) and from Afghanistan 51.8 months (instead of 9.1 months).
The left MP Clara Bünger criticized that long waiting times led to uncertainty among those affected. Bünger said: “The blatantly different lengths of procedure are highly questionable and hardly compatible with the principle of equal treatment.” Bünger appealed to the Federal Ministry of the Interior to take a close look at these figures and to ask the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) to make the necessary corrections.
If asylum seekers legally defend themselves against the asylum decision and complain, they received a decision from the courts a little faster for the first time since 2016. Asylum court proceedings lasted an average of 26 months in 2022 – in the previous year it was 26.5 months.
However, there are major differences between the federal states. Courts in Rhineland-Palatinate decided the fastest (on average after 5.9 months). Procedures in Brandenburg (43.4 months), Hesse (33.9 months) and Lower Saxony (32.3 months) lasted longer than average.
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Original content from: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, transmitted by news aktuell
