SEEKING ASYLUM IN GERMANY

Chances of being granted asylum may depend on the state in which the application is filed. Figures provided by the German Office for Migration and Refugees reveal significant differences in protection rates in individual states, reports Charlotte Hauswedell. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is responsible for the processing of asylum requests in all sixteen German states. In …

Horst Seehofer, Germany’s designated interior minister, has said he has a “master plan for faster asylum procedures, and more consistent deportations.” He also said there was a need for a strong state to protect Germany’s liberal values. The incoming interior minister, who is head of the conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), made the comments in an interview published on …

Although the total number of attacks on refugees fell by about one-third from the previous year, the level remains high. More than 300 people were injured in the attacks. German newspapers reported Wednesday that there were 2,219 reported attacks on migrants and refugees and their accommodations in 2017. While this means there was an average of six attacks per day, …

German officials say 12,285 people applied for asylum in the country in January. That is a 15 percent drop compared with the same month last year. In January 2017, Germany recorded 14,476 new asylum requests, while some 13,082 people applied for asylum in December 2017. Figures published by the Interior Ministry on Tuesday show most new asylum-seekers last month originated …

Displaced people have a hard time finding employment. Five hundred thousand refugees are currently on the job market — and prospects look bleak. A Munich startup has founded a non-profit temporary work agency. Temporary work employment refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time based on the needs of the employing organization.  …

An Afghan man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a woman because she had converted to Christianity. The court recognized a ‘very high degree of culpability’ in handing down its decision. A court in the southern German city of Traunstein on Friday sentenced a 30-year-old Muslim refugee from Afghanistan to life in prison for killing a woman …

Refugees in Germany who appeal against the rejection of their asylum applications are having growing success, a report says. Critics say the high rate of wins puts German migration authorities in a bad light. Almost one in two refugees who appeals against the rejection of an asylum application by German migration authorities wins the case before administrative courts, a German …

186,644 asylum seekers were registered last year. That’s more than 100,000 down from the 2016 figures – the Germany Interior Ministry says the massive numbers from the height of the crisis have been “overcome.” German Interior Minister Lothar de Maizière announced the figures in Berlin on Tuesday (16 January) showed that the waves of refugees arriving in Germany continue to …

Germany’s top court has ruled that a person cannot be deported to their country of origin if at risk of torture. A German-born Turkish Salafist had appealed his return, saying he would be tortured in his home country. Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on Tuesday ruled that a person may not be deported to their country of origin if …

Ahead of this week’s new round of coalition talks between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU and the SPD, leading Bavarian politicians are demanding tougher measures against asylum seekers, including mandatory age checks, speedier deportations and benefit cuts. Charlotte Hauswedell reports. The interior minister of Bavaria, Joachim Herrmann (CSU), has reiterated that deportations must be carried out more effectively, especially in …

Latest figures show an overall fall in the number of new asylum requests in the EU, compared to 2015 and 2016. Asylum is a form of international protection given by a state on its territory. It is granted to a person who is unable to seek protection in his/her country of citizenship and/or residence, in particular for fear of being …

The Federal Statistical Office has revealed that 2 percent of the people who lived in Germany at the end of 2016 had lodged asylum applications. That’s more than double the figure for 2014. Ben Knight reports. On Friday, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) revealed that 1.6 million people were officially registered as “seeking protection for humanitarian reasons” in Germany at …

What happens when officials refuse an applicant’s request for asylum? In Germany, applicants have recourse to administrative courts and can even approach the European Court of Human Rights. Here is a short explanation. Types of rejection The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees or BAMF can reject applications for asylum if its officials believe that the individual concerned does not …

The number of asylum cases being dealt with by German courts has risen by almost 500 percent in the past year, according to a report. Courts are said to have been overwhelmed by the volume of cases. The number of cases being heard in Germany’s administrative courts rose to about 320,000 in the first half of this year, from just …

Success rates for asylum applications in Germany vary widely from state to state, according to a new report by Funke Mediengruppe. But the varying rates raise questions over how Germany processes asylum requests. Iraqis much more likely to get asylum in Bremen than in Berlin, official figures show. For example, the protection rate for Iraqi refugees in Bremen during the …

 All refugees arriving in Germany have a right to medical aid. However, the facilities and services they can access are limited – at least for the first 15 months. Manasi Gopalakrishnan reports. When refugees first enter Germany, doctors examine them for communicable diseases. For this purpose, experts carry out an x-ray of the lungs. For people below 15 years of …

Who orders and who carries out deportations? And why do some people who get told to leave get to stay anyway? Jefferson Chase of Deutsche Welle (DW) untangles Germany’s complex and multilayered rules about who can be deported under what circumstances. ———————— Who decides whether someone should be deported? You might think that would be the task of the Federal Ministry of …

A battery of new technological innovations has been unveiled by Germany’s refugee agency to help it determine more accurately the country of origin of asylum seekers and detect those who make multiple applications using different names. Jefferson Chase reports. No more Franco A.’s – that’s the motto at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge …

The number of cases filed by asylum seekers challenging the decisions of immigration authorities in German courts has brought the legal system to the brink of collapse, a top German judge has warned in an interview. The sheer number of cases filed has overwhelmed the civil courts of the country, said Robert Seegmuller, chairman of the Association of German Administrative …

Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge or BAMF) has issued a warning to asylum-seekers in the country to beware of dupers who may call them to demand money for a favourable result on their asylum request or to prevent their deportation. “The Federal Office has been informed that persons are being threatened again by …