Sorry about neglecting the English page for so long – we did continue to work, but with German data, so we posted it on refugee-datathon-muc.de . One of the posts looks back on the decisions of the German Federal Agency of Migration and Refugees in 2018. Let me give you a summary in English.
When an asylum seeker arrives in Germany, they have an interview and the first decision will be taken – after weeks, months or even years. In 2018, the Federal Agency of Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, BAMF) decided on more than 200’000 cases. This is how the decisions per year developed since 2005:
They are clearly still struggling with the unusual peak of 800’000 asylum applications in 2016. Before 2014, there were fewer than 200’000 applications per year. Except for the early 1990s when Yugoslavia was ravaged by war and broke apart. This happened a about 1000 km / 700 miles from Germany. The distance to Syria is about 3000 km / 1800 miles. So when a war breaks out nearby, more refugees arrive – no surprises here.
The time lag between applications and decisions means that the number of decisions in a year for a certain country can diverge widely from the number of application in the same year. Let’s have a look first at the applications.
The map again shows that most refugees come from war regions not far from Germany. „Far“ here doesn’t only mean the distance in miles, but also if people have the means to travel. There are crisis regions from which hardly anyone arrives: Myanmar, Yemen and Venezuela. Let’s now turn to the applications.
The decisions below are only first decisions, they can still be disputed in court, and for some countries the success rate is quite high. Green means that people can stay, lighter green means that the status is less secure. Red means that the application was rejected. Gray means that there was no decision taken, for example, because it was decided that another European country should decide on it.
Syria is simple. You just don’t refuse a refugee from Syria. Though they made it very hard for the familiy to reunite (light green status).
There’s a huge discussion about asylum seekers from Afghanistan. Some say they should go back because it’s safe, at least in some places (they don’t specify which). Others say, no, Afghanistan isn’t safe. Note the sharp drop in decisions in Summer 2017: That was after a terror attack in Kabul, killing and injuring hundereds, and damaging the German embassy. They waited for a new evaluation, then took up deciding as before.
For more countries, please have a look at the German version of this page.
