German minister expects sharp fall in asylum seekers this year

BERLIN: The number of asylum seekers in Germany is expected to hit its lowest level in more than a decade this year, outgoing interior minister Nancy Faeser told newspapers on Sunday.

“If irregular migration continues to be reduced as sharply as we have managed to do in the last two years, then the number of asylum seekers in Germany could reach around 100,000 this year,” Faeser told the newspapers of Funke media group.

According to the federal migration office, the last time there were fewer than 100,000 asylum applications was in 2012. In 2024, there were just under 251,000 applications, compared with around 352,000 the previous year.

Faeser’s successor, Alexander Dobrindt of the conservative CSU, has promised to ramp up border controls and increase the number of people rejected at the border shortly after taking office next week.

“Illegal migration numbers must come down,” Dobrindt told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. According to the newspaper, several thousand additional officials will be sent to support federal police at the borders, while monitoring of border regions, including from the air, will be stepped up as part of Dobrindt’s planned measures.

Germany’s new government has vowed to take a tougher stance on migration in a bid to reduce support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has capitalised on public frustration over border security.