Fewer asylum seekers were granted protection status in Germany in January and February compared to the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) on Friday.
Some 19.1% of applicants were granted protection status or the right to remain due to a ban on deportations during the first two months of the year compared to 45% during the same period in 2024.
The lower protection rate was mainly due to decisions being paused on applications from Syrian nationals following the overthrow of Syria’s long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. The Interior Ministry justified the temporary halt on decisions with the dynamic situation in the country.
Syria continues to top the list of the main countries of origin for asylum seekers in Germany, with Syrian nationals accounting for 27.7% of asylum applications in February, followed by Afghans at 15.3% and Turkish applicants at 10%, the BAMF figures showed.
Despite the lower protection rate, BAMF has made 55,070 decisions on asylum applications in the last two months, which is consistent with the 54,705 decisions it made during the same period last year.
The average duration for the process was 12.3 months in February, as the office works through a backlog caused in part by the high number of applications in 2023.
Those who submitted an application in the last 12 months received a decision after an average of 4.3 months, BAMF noted.
The number of first-time asylum applications in Germany decreased to 229,751 in 2024, a 30.2% drop from 2023.
The number of asylum applications in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland also fell during this period by 12%, according to the EU asylum agency.
