The number of refugees in Germany reached a new high in the middle of this year. As the federal government explained in a response to a query from the Die Linke group, around 3.48 million refugees with different residence statuses were living in Germany at the end of June. That is around 60,000 more refugees than at the end of 2023. The “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” was the first to report on the government’s response.
The increase was particularly high in 2022, when hundreds of thousands of war refugees from Ukraine sought refuge in Germany within a few months. Unlike the statistics on asylum applications, the Central Register of Foreigners, which the federal government refers to in its response, also takes into account departures.
According to the Federal Government, the number of people who are required to leave the country fell slightly in the first half of this year. As of June 30, there were 226,882 foreigners in Germany who were required to leave the country. People from Iraq made up the largest group of them. Almost 20 percent of them were required to leave the country. Around four out of five people who were required to leave the country were considered tolerated.
People who are tolerated are people who are required to leave the country but are not deported for certain reasons. This may be because they do not have identification documents, are ill or have a minor child who has a residence permit.
For comparison: At the end of 2023, around 243,000 people required to leave the country were in Germany, of whom around 194,000 were tolerated.
Left-wing politician Clara Bünger demanded that an end be put to “all measures aimed at driving people without a right of residence out of the country”. The right of opportunity introduced by the traffic light coalition is tied to too high hurdles, but it still opens the way to secure residency for many people.
The Opportunity Residence Act came into force on December 31, 2022. It affects people who have been in Germany for at least five years with a tolerated stay, permission or a residence permit as of October 31, 2022. They and their relatives can receive a kind of probationary residence permit for 18 months.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240920-930-238242/1
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