State and federal resources are “almost exhausted,” according to the country’s interior minister
Germany’s refugee population reached a record high this year, according to government data reported by the newspaper Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung on Friday.
As of the end of June 2024, 3.48 million refugees, asylum seekers, and protected persons were living in Germany, a response from the federal government to a Left party inquiry in the Bundestag revealed. This figure is roughly 60,000 higher than at the end of 2023, surpassing any previous record since the 1950s.
Ukrainians comprise approximately one-third of these refugees, with around 1.18 million individuals having arrived from the country. This number has risen by about 45,000 since the end of 2023, according to the data. Syrians make up the second-largest refugee group.
Meanwhile, the number of individuals scheduled for deportation continued to decline, with 266,000 recorded as of June 2024, a figure nearly 16,000 lower than at the end of 2023. This decline is attributed to increased deportation efforts. However, due to circumstances in the countries of origin, approximately 80% of pending deportations are effectively impossible to carry out, according to the newspaper.
The number of asylum seekers has become a contentious topic in German and European politics recently.
Last week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government announced plans to strengthen border controls for at least six months. Berlin has introduced random checks at its borders with France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Denmark, expanding an existing system to encompass the entire country’s frontier.
In a letter to Brussels, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser explained that this measure is necessary because state and federal resources have been “almost exhausted” by refugees and asylum seekers, as reported by Der Spiegel.
Since the beginning of the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv in February 2022, Germany has become a primary destination for Ukrainian refugees. With approximately 970,000 Ukrainians residing in the country, it currently accommodates the most Ukrainian refugees among EU nations, followed by Poland with around 370,000, according to the latest figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.