Germany is expected to take in as many as 1.2 million migrants in 2022, a figure that would top the 2015 migrant crisis as around a million Ukrainians have sought safety during the Russian invasion along with around 200,000 other asylum seekers.
During the migrant crisis in 2015, Germany took in around 890,000 asylum seekers but that number is set to be outpaced this year as around a million Ukrainian refugees have travelled to Germany since the Russian invasion in February.
A further 200,000 or so asylum seekers from other countries are also expected to arrive in Germany by the end of the year, with the country reporting a total of 181,612 asylum applications at the end of October, the European Union-funded website InfoMigrants reports.
The influx of Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers has pushed the limit of Germany’s ability to house the incoming migrants with many municipalities and other local governments stating that they no longer have room.
Armin Schuster, Interior Minister for the region of Saxony, commented on the current situation saying, “We are approaching 200,000 asylum seekers this year. In the last legislature, this number was defined as the upper limit.”
Manfred Weber, a German member of the European Parliament and leader of the European People’s Party(EPP), the largest group in the chamber, stated, “Germany is currently sleepwalking into a new migration crisis.”
“In view of the ongoing destruction of energy infrastructure in Ukraine by Putin’s terrorist regime, we must prepare for a large number of Ukrainians to come to the EU this winter — and many of them also to Germany, I’m afraid we’ll experience a dramatic escape winter,” he added.
In order to help local governments deal with the influx of migrants, the German federal government has earmarked €3.5 billion (£3 billion/$3.69 billion) this year and another €2.75 billion (£2.36 billion/$2.8 billion) for next year and has provided around 67,000 forms of accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.
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