Berlin – These numbers are alarming: Fewer and fewer asylum seekers in Germany are actually in need of protection. Nevertheless, many are often allowed to stay.
▶︎ The fact is: In the first four months (January to April 2025), the “Federal Office for Migration and Refugees” (BAMF) made decisions on a total of 110,077 asylum applications (including both initial and follow-up applications). Of these, 90,018 were rejected.
This means: only 20,059 asylum applications were granted, resulting in an overall protection rate for all nationalities of just 18.22 percent.
Fewer than one in five asylum seekers receives protection
Of the 110,077 BAMF decisions regarding initial and follow-up applications, the majority were made for:
▶︎ Turkey, with 23,924 decisions (overall protection rate: 8.3 percent),
▶︎ Afghanistan, with 18,635 decisions (overall protection rate: 51.8 percent),
▶︎ Syria, with 9,731 decisions (overall protection rate: 0.2 percent).
Nevertheless: The overall protection rate of 18.22 percent is very low! This is influenced not only by Syria but also by BAMF decisions regarding Colombia (2,499 decisions with a protection rate of 0.4 percent) and Russia (5,419 decisions with a protection rate of 4.3 percent).
Significant decline in asylum applications in 2025
The debate over tightening German border controls in recent months and the actual tightening that began in May 2025 appears to be having an effect.
▶︎ In 2025 (January to April), BAMF registered 45,681 initial asylum applications. In the same period of 2024, there were still 84,984 applications submitted—a decrease of 46.2 percent.
▶︎ The majority of asylum requests in 2025 so far have come from three countries: Syria with 11,644 initial asylum applications, Afghanistan with 7,873 initial applications, and Turkey with 4,749 initial applications.
▶︎ In 2025 (January to April), 71.7 percent of initial asylum applicants were younger than 30, 41.3 percent were minors, and 62.4 percent of all applicants were reported as “male” by BAMF.
Dublin procedures are increasingly failing
A massive problem: Despite the low overall protection rate of just 18.22 percent and the reality that most asylum applicants need to leave, many remain here!
This is also due to the low deportation rates and the enormous number of “aborted deportations” that *BILD* has exclusive access to.
The deportation balance:
▶︎ In 2024, 20,084 rejected asylum seekers were deported from Germany to their home countries or to another EU state. However, in 33,717 cases planned deportations were aborted last year (mainly due to “a cancellation” by the states).
▶︎ In 2025: In the first four months of 2025 (January to April), 8,163 individuals were deported. But in 11,753 cases, planned deportations in the first four months of 2025 were aborted (including cancellations by states or non-transportation on the day of the measure).
Deportation: Police officers accompany an Afghan on the airport during a return flight
At the same time, more and more Dublin transfers are failing! The repatriation balance:
▶︎ In 2024: Of the 74,583 cases in which Germany requested the transfer of an asylum seeker to the responsible EU country under the Dublin procedure (where the person first entered the EU), only 5,827 were actually executed.
▶︎ In 2025: Between January and April, Germany requested the return of asylum applicants to an EU country in exactly 15,279 cases. While 11,054 of these requests were approved by EU countries, only 2,230 resulted in actual transfers.
In 11,907 cases, the Dublin procedure was aborted in 2025.
Reasons for the failures include: EU partners allow transfers only at specific times, adhering to strict “schedules” (as *BILD* reported). Additionally, many individuals who should have been returned simply disappeared by the deadline.
Politicians are now calling for consequences
Politicians in Berlin are responding with concern, demanding consequences (including urgent reforms)!
▶︎ Interior expert Stephan Mayer (51, CSU) told *BILD*: “The more restrictive asylum policy of the EU and Germany is beginning to bear fruit. However: The Dublin system has failed and must be reformed. The pressure on the countries that refuse to accept asylum seekers must be significantly increased. The fact is: No single EU country can tackle the issue of ‘asylum’ alone.”
▶︎ Sahra Wagenknecht (55, BSW) stated in *BILD*: “The asylum system increasingly helps the wrong people. If over 80 percent of asylum seekers do not need protection, it shows a loss of control in migration policy. Instead of primarily discussing border controls that create traffic jams while most asylum seekers simply cross the green border, the federal government should eliminate the incentives that bring people to us.”