German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced that the figures for 2024 showed a 23% drop compared to the previous year. She views the decline in asylum applications as “proof that the country’s tough measures are working.”
Last month, Germany reintroduced checks at all internal borders as an exception to Schengen rules.
According to figures released on Tuesday by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, the number of applications fell from 27,889 in September 2023 to 18,113 in September 2024.
Faeser praised the figures as evidence that “the measures are working.” She added, “We continue to take steps to limit irregular migration. We are introducing the new Common European Asylum System as quickly as possible.”
The government also plans to implement fast-track asylum procedures at its internal borders to expedite the deportation of asylum seekers who, under the Dublin system, must be returned to the first EU country they entered.
Germany has also supported an EU initiative aimed at reducing obstacles to the deportation of rejected asylum seekers, which will be discussed at a meeting of EU interior ministers on Thursday.
Germany currently tops the list of EU countries with the highest number of asylum applications this year, with 171,000, according to a report by Welt am Sonntag, which cited the EU’s asylum agency. Germany is followed by Spain (123,000) and Italy (117,000).
“This number is still far from what’s needed to alleviate the ongoing strain,” Friedrich Merz, leader of the main opposition CDU party, said on Tuesday. He emphasized that all asylum seekers arriving under the Dublin rules should be turned back at the border.
