The number of asylum seekers in Germany rose again in April compared to the same month last year. This emerges from the current figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf).. In April, 19,629 initial applications for asylum were received by the Federal Office. Compared to last March, this value fell by 22 percent. Compared to the previous year, however, there was an increase of 72.8 percent. In April 2022, 11,359 people in Germany had applied for asylum for the first time.
According to the Bamf, the following nationalities were most strongly represented last April: Syria with 5,135 initial applications, Afghanistan (3,230 initial applications) and Turkey (2,474 initial applications). It is already becoming apparent that the number of asylum seekers in Germany this year is likely to be significantly higher than in the previous year. Experts assume that the 300,000 mark will be reached. Last year, 244,132 asylum applications were registered in Germany. Of these, 217,774 were initial applications.
The renewed increase compared to the previous year should also fuel the discussion at the refugee summit, to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is inviting next Wednesday in the Chancellery. The plan of the Federal Government’s special representative for migration, Joachim Stamp (FDP), to declare Georgia and Moldova safe countries of origin should contribute to long-term relief.
The German District Association meanwhile called for clear decisions from the federal and state governments before the refugee summit. “The counties urgently need a reliable perspective to limit the number of refugees, to intensify the repatriation efforts and for financing,” said the president of the district assembly, Reinhard Sager, the “Rheinische Post”.
The President of the Association of German Cities, Markus Lewe, spoke out in favor of granting refugees faster access to the labor market in Germany. “I am in favor of refugees who are assigned to the municipalities being allowed to work immediately – regardless of their residence status,” said the mayor of Münster to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
