Over 9,000 Georgians Applied for Asylum in Germany in 2023

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• In 2023, Germany recorded 9,399 asylum applications from Georgian citizens.
• Of the 352,000 applications, 23,000 were follow-ups from the previous year.
• The majority of applicants hailed from conflict-ridden countries like Syria, Türkiye, and Afghanistan.

Last year, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in Germany (BAMF) registered 9,399 asylum applications from Georgian citizens, of which only 0.3 per cent were approved.

The same source also revealed that the total number of asylum seekers in Germany reached 352,000 during the same year, marking an increase of 51 per cent, or 111,000 people, compared to 2022.

Among them, 329,000 were first-time applicants. This increase represents the highest volume of asylum applications since 2016 when a total of 722,370 initial applications were submitted.

260k Applications Decided, Over Half Approved in 2023

According to BAMF, within the 352,000 applications, 23,000 were follow-up attempts from the previous year, reflecting cases carried over due to failures or withdrawals.

In 2023, the same authority rendered decisions on a total of 260,000 applications, while over half of them were approved.

Moreover, the majority of applications during the same year originated from individuals fleeing conflict and human rights violations in countries as follows:

• Syria (104,561)
• Türkiye (62,624)
• Afghanistan (53,282)

While positive decisions were granted to a significant number of Syrians and Afghans, who faced dire circumstances in their home countries, only 13 per cent of Turkish applicants received approval.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stressed the need to maintain existing policies based on the 2023 asylum statistics. In this regard, she pointed out a 25 per cent increase in the number of individuals repatriated to their countries of origin compared to 2022. She further indicated that the government is ready to adopt a legislative package to simplify and speed up the process of such returns.

Last November, BAMF granted 35,316 initial applications for asylum, bringing the annual number to 304,581 initial applications for asylum.

During the year, it completed 242,185 asylum procedures. Between January and November 2023, Germany registered a total of 325,801 asylum seekers, including 304,581 initial applications and 21,220 subsequent applications.

This statistic shows a significant increase of 60.3 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year, during which there were 189,998 initial applications. The data also show that among the initial applications in 2023, 21,287 were related to children born in Germany who were under one.

In addition, the latest data from the BAMF highlights a marked increase in the proportion of male asylum seekers aged 16 to 40 in Germany over the past five years. In the first eleven months of 2023, half of the first-time asylum seekers (50.7 per cent) fell into this age group, a marked increase compared to 2019 and 2020, where the percentage moved to just over a quarter (26.2 per cent and 26.6 per cent), respectively.