According to statistics from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Germany experienced a notable decline in asylum seekers overall, particularly among Syrian applicants, in the first quarter of this year. By March, only 1,944 asylum applications had been submitted by Syrians, accounting for 18.5% of the total. In contrast, during the same period last year, Syrian applications represented 33% of all asylum requests, with 5,000 applications submitted in just one month.
The total number of asylum applications in Germany declined to 230,000 in 2024—almost 100,000 fewer than in 2023. Notably, Syrian nationals no longer represent the largest group of asylum seekers. In March, applicants from Afghanistan ranked first with 2,284 asylum requests, followed by Turkish nationals in third place with 1,144 applications.
Over the past year, Germany has tightened its immigration and asylum policies significantly. It has drastically reduced the number of refugees from war zones granted subsidiary protection status. Additionally, the Federal Office for Migration has halted the processing of asylum applications from Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime. Furthermore, Germany has increased the rejection rate of asylum applications compared to previous years.
The significant shift in the nationalities of asylum seekers is attributed to evolving political circumstances. Last year saw the end of the Assad regime in Syria, along with tighter control over escape routes and a broader rejection of asylum applications by Germany. Meanwhile, Turkey’s political crisis intensified following the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In Afghanistan, the Taliban regime has enforced increasingly strict policies, particularly targeting women.
According to an analysis by Die Zeit, the main factor behind the decline in asylum applications is a shift in the European Union’s foreign policy on migration and asylum. In the first months of 2025, the number of asylum seekers in EU countries dropped by nearly 33% compared to the same period last year. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) also reported a decrease in the number of people using all major migration routes into Europe.
