Migrants from Syria and Iraq almost never have their asylum applications rejected, but among those who do, only half actually leave Germany.
Following a request by the German left wing party Die Linke, the German federal government has released new data regarding applications for asylum. The figures show the success rate as well as the numbers of who have been rejected for asylum.
Migrants who come from areas such as Syria and Eritrea have an almost total acceptance rate, while migrants from the Balkans have the highest rejection rate. But only 51 per cent of those rejected have left the country, Die Welt reports.
The 51 per cent figure is based on the number of legally rejected asylum seekers from the period of 2014 to 2015. The inquiry, made by Ulla Jelpke on behalf of left-wing party Die Linke, also revealed that the Federal Office of Migration and Refugees (BAMF) had over 410,000 asylum applications still ongoing and under review.
The agency commented that it expected a further 300,000 to 400,000 migrants have not even had a chance to apply for asylum.
Forced deportations are the rarest in Germany, and in the case of migrants from countries such as Afghanistan or the North African nations they are almost non existent. The government has said it would like to encourage more voluntary departures but will also look into expanding the ability to forcibly deport migrants.
The wait for asylum in Germany can be a long process. According to the German government, 28,510 migrants have been waiting for a decision on their asylum application for at least two years, 3,808 have been waiting for more than three years and 96,655 for at least one year.
While the average wait time is said to be six months, that only applies in cases where asylum is considered easily granted by the German government, such as with Syrian applicants, or immediately dismissed. The countries with the longest wait times are Afghanistan at 15 months, Iran at 17 months and Pakistan at almost 19 months.
Afghani migrants have put such a strain on the system in Germany that the government released a poster campaign urging Afghans not to come to Germany. Pakistan has proved problematic for the Germans as they have refused to take back migrants who have been rejected asylum by turning planes around and sending the migrants back to Germany.
Accurate figures of how many migrants had applied for asylum before the migrant crisis were easily available; but BAMF says this is no longer the case due to the sheer scale of asylum seekers.
While BAMF registers asylum applications, the federal regions of Germany employ a different system called “Easy” for registering migrants. In February of this year BAMF had registered 58,315 asylum applications – compared to 20,608 migrant registrations on Easy.
The disparity has led many to wonder how many migrants are actually in Germany as reports have come out saying that the government may not be able to account for up to 600,000 migrants since the start of the crisis.
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