Germany: Twice as many asylum seekers - but hardly any Ukrainians

Berlin - Immigration record in 2022: By June 14, 339,984 people in the EU had already applied for asylum – 92 percent more than in the same period last year. This emerges from a communication from the EU asylum agency EUAA to the EU Commission, about which the Welt am Sonntag reports.

Despite the Ukraine war, which began in February this year and triggered a wave of refugees, only a small fraction of the asylum seekers are from the Eastern European country. With 22,700 they make up 6.7 percent. Because a special rule enables Ukrainians to be recognized directly and temporarily as refugees from the civil war without an asylum procedure.

Most asylum seekers still come from Islamic countries. 42,900 Afghans and 34,900 Syrians sought asylum in the EU in the first five and a half months of the year. According to the EUAA, they prefer to move straight on to Germany. The 22,900 Venezuelans, on the other hand, mostly wanted to go to Spain.

Naturalization after three years
According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), most Syrians have been living in Greece for years, to which they had moved from their first refugee country, Turkey. Because of better living conditions, many now want to go to Germany and apply for asylum again. Germany now recognizes the lack of social security in other EU countries as a reason for asylum. This means that if migrants complain about insufficient accommodation and care, for example in Greece, Germany immediately grants them protection status and they are given the right to stay.

Most refugees are now coming to Germany from other EU countries. The traffic light coalition now wants to give them the opportunity to be naturalized after just three years.

Source: Junge Freiheit