According to the German Economic Institute (IW), net migration last year stood at 235,000 people, which is three times lower than the figure for 2023. The study notes that the downward trend is mainly attributable to a reduction in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany stricter measures in migration policy.
Although net immigration in 2023 was almost triple the current figure, at 663,000 people, today’s statistics highlight the downward trend. The total number of new asylum cases fell from 329,000 in 2023 to 113,000 in 2025.
Factors contributing to the lower figures include the end of the civil war in Syria and the suspension of family reunification programmes by the government last year, both of which significantly limited the new arrivals, along with the current government’s tougher stance in response to domestic concerns about migration and the rise in conservative sentiment.
In accordance with this migration initiative, introduced under Chancellor Friedrich Merz last summer, a total of 13 family reunification visas were issued. Although this policy was initially intended to be temporary, it effectively means that virtually no one can now enter Germany via this legal route.
Before the suspension was introduced, up to 1,000 family members of people in Germany under subsidiary protection were able to be reunited with their relatives each month. But since the initiative came into force, the only way currently available to bring close relatives to Germany is through complex cases in which visas may be issued after a time-consuming procedure requiring the intervention of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Pro Asyl, an organisation defending the rights of migrants and refugees, criticised this initiative: “The federal government has been referring families to a hardship procedure that does not deserve the name, partly because the hurdles are far too high.”
It claims that since the ban came into force, the government has been rejecting even cases of extreme hardship. According to Pro Asyl, some families who had been on waiting lists for family reunification for years faced obstacles after last July. These include families from regions of the world most affected by war, such as Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Germany is honouring its commitment to deport criminals to their countries of origin, as in the case of Afghanistan. On 28 July, the German government forcibly deported 31 Afghan men. It later emerged that one of the 31 Afghans deported to Kabul on Tuesday did not, in fact, have a criminal record.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt stated that the majority of the passengers on the flight were “serious criminals” convicted of offences such as murder, rape and violent crimes, but later confirmed that one passenger did indeed have no criminal record. Dobrindt explained that although the man had no criminal record, he was ordered to leave Germany after his application for asylum was ultimately rejected.
Despite this, the inclusion on the deportation list of individuals who had not committed criminal offences drew criticism from refugee rights organisations, claiming that the government was expanding the scope of its operations to return people to Afghanistan beyond those convicted of serious crimes.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior responded: “Our stated policy for this government, signed by all coalition parties – the CDU, CSU and SPD – emphasises that we will commence deportations to Afghanistan, focusing on those with criminal records, but without limiting ourselves to that.”
“Under the Residence Act, foreign nationals must be deported if they are legally obliged to leave the country and a departure deadline has not been granted or has expired. Furthermore, there must be no grounds for prohibiting deportation in an individual case. In addition, the federal states are responsible for enforcing residence law and are free to decide on returns on a case-by-case basis. Afghan women and girls are generally granted protection in Germany,” the statement reads.
Regardless of the severe humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the German government is seeking to tighten its migration policy drastically, given the rapid rise in support for the opposition party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in a number of German regions in the run-up to the September elections.
