Berlin.
Asylum policy is discussed at the refugee summit. But how many people seek protection in Germany? Where are you from? An overview.
Hardly any topic is discussed as heatedly as that asylum policy. The dispute between the federal, state and local authorities has been building for weeks. Now it comes to summit meeting in the chancellery. But the big solution doesn’t seem to be in sight. Instead, the dispute between the state governments and the traffic light coalition of Olaf Scholz (SPD) escalate. But what is the situation of refugees in Germany anyway? An overview.
Germany: How many refugees are currently coming?
Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, millions of people have fled, mainly to Poland, but also to other EU countries. A good one million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have followed since February 2022 Deutschland. Some have already returned to the less-contested areas of their homeland, but people are still fleeing Ukraine – depending on the intensity of the fighting.
Ukraine war – background and explanations for the conflict
The number of a million alone refugees from Ukraine is approaching the influx of people seeking protection from the crisis years of 2015 and 2016. However: The people from the Ukraine do not have to go through the complex process asylum procedure – and many of them have found private accommodation. And yet the local communities feel the strain, especially in language courses, schools and day-care centers, where Ukrainian children have to be integrated. But also at the local offices where social assistance is paid out. Housing space is also becoming scarce, and voluntary accommodation with private individuals is ebbing away.
Refugees: How many people seeking protection come from other war regions?
Next to the refugees from Ukraine, the number of asylum seekers from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan is also growing significantly. In the first four months of 2023, a good 110,000 people applied for asylum in Germany. That is three quarters more than in the same period of 2022.
The vast majority come from Syria (almost 30,000) and Afghanistan (almost 20,000). Always more people but also flee from Turkey to Germany: From January to April 2023, more than 12,000 Turks submitted an application for protection to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf). Overall, the number of newcomers is higher than it has been for years. However: In April, the applications were accepted Asylum compared to the previous month.
Asylum policy: Who shoulders the care of the refugees?
For supply and accommodation of those seeking protection are the responsibility of the federal states and local authorities. State governments operate large initial reception facilities. Many are already heavily occupied. The municipalities are responsible for the follow-up accommodation, in Germany it is primarily the districts. The problem: Living space is scarce in many places. It is not uncommon for residents to protest against large ones collective accommodation.
In addition: many of the refugees from the Ukraine are children and young people. The federal states and municipalities bear the costs for schooling and childcare – not the federal government.
Asylum policy: What does the federal government pay for the care of refugees?
Die federal government emphasizes that she has given a lot of money from the budget to the municipalities to deal with the refugee crisis. Last November, the federal government pledged 2.75 billion euros for this year, including 1.25 billion euros as annual support. In addition, the federal government pays 90 percent of the supply of the Ukraine refugees, because they receive regular basic security (now citizen money). According to the federal government, that alone will cost five billion euros this year. The federal government calculates total costs of 15 billion euros.
However, in the financial help For example, in the case of basic security, this does not include the fact that the immigration authorities and job centers on site have high administrative costs. Many municipalities have little leeway in their budgets or are in debt. The refugee crisis is an enormous additional one Burden.
2016 to 2021 wore the Bund all costs for accommodation and heating. According to the federal states, the proportion is now just under 70 percent – a gap of one billion. The federal states and municipalities are now demanding a return to a capita rate per refugee, which the federal government should pay to the federal states and municipalities. That’s how it was in the Asylkrise 2015. Now the state governments are demanding 1,000 euros per capita. Back then, in 2015, Chancellor Merkel promised almost 700 euros.
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