Germany: Asylum applications decline and skilled labor migration rises

The German government announced on Tuesday a sharp decline in asylum applications last year, attributing this to a tightening of its immigration policy, an issue that remains at the heart of discussions to form a new government led by Friedrich Merz.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, a member of Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), spoke of significant progress in combating illegal immigration.

Over the past year, the number of asylum applications fell to approximately 230,000, compared to nearly 330,000 in 2023.

This trend has continued since the beginning of this year, with a 43% decline during the first two months compared to the same period last year.

However, the number of new asylum applications last year was higher than the figures recorded in the six years prior to 2023.

The outgoing government of Olaf Scholz intensified measures last year to strengthen the fight against illegal immigration, particularly due to pressures from the populist right’s electoral advance.

Since September 2024, Germany, the EU’s largest recipient of migrants, has expanded the border controls it has implemented since 2023 with neighboring Poland, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, and for years with Austria.

Since the implementation of these controls, approximately 2,000 smugglers have been arrested, according to figures provided by Faeser.

She also noted a 55% increase in the number of deportations at the border over the past two years.

The Conservatives and Social Democrats, who are currently in talks to form a government, are demonstrating their desire to tighten immigration policy by reforming asylum rules.

Minister Faeser noted that the immigration policy pursued by the traffic light coalition government is the most successful.

She explained that immigration of skilled workers has increased by 77% since 2021.

Faeser added in a statement, “Today we are a country that invests more in integration and has become more attractive to talented and qualified workers from all over the world”.

The issue of immigration dominated the election campaign for the February 23 legislative elections following a series of attacks and assaults committed by foreigners in Germany.

During the refugee crisis between 2015 and 2016, Germany received more than one million people, most of them from Syria and Afghanistan.

In addition, Germany has received 1,252,954 Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war in February 2022, according to figures published Tuesday.