The number of asylum seeker applications in Germany has plummeted after a major crackdown. Figures reported by local media show there were 61,300 bids submitted in the first six months of this year. This is almost half the total for 2024, when numbers totalled 121,426.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to get a grip on immigration and border security when campaigning for election ahead of May’s general election. Since gaining power, Germany has tightened its border controls, stopped family reunification and abolished a fast-track naturalisation process.
Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s Interior Minister, hailed the figures as “clear successes” in his country’s “migration turnaround”. He told Germany daily, BILD: “We are consistently continuing on the path to turning migration on its head.”
BILD hailed the figures for showing Germany was no longer the European country with the most asylum applications.
The country has dropped to third behind Spain and France, which separate figures first reported by Welt am Sonntag show 76,020 and 75,428 applications respectively.
Germany’s figure, cited by that publication, is 65,495 asylum applications for the first half of this year. The figures come from a European Asylum Agency report.
Most asylum seekers applying for asylum in Germany came from Afghanistan, Syria and Turkey, 22%, 20% and 11% respectively.
Dozens of Afghan men were deported by Germany in July. 81 Afghans had been through the country’s justice system and had their asylum applications rejected.
The Interior Ministry said the government aims to carry out more deportations to Afghanistan. Asylum applications fell from 329,120 in 2023 to 229,751 last year and have continued to fall this year.
Germany’s apparent success compares starkly with British efforts to crack down on irregular migration and secure UK borders.
The latest Government figures available show a total of 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending March, 2025. This was 17% more than in the year ending March 2024 and 6% more than the previous peak of 103,081 in 2002.
The Government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill has cleared the Commons, but must still undergo further scrutiny in the Lords before it becomes law.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said on Monday (August 4) that the public has run out of patience with the whole issue of illegal migration.
Mr Jencrick, who was speaking after nationwide protests against migration, told the BBC: “This is an issue that is beyond party politics. It is causing immense harm to communities and people’s lives are being wrecked as a result of it and we simply have to fix it.”
The Home Office announced on Monday that it is pouring £100million of extra funding into supporting a pilot scheme for a new “one in, one out” returns agreement between the UK and France on top of other efforts to crack down on small boat crossings.
The cash will also pay for up to 300 more National Crime Agency (NCA) officers, new technology and equipment to step up intelligence-gathering on smuggling gangs.
But pressure is mounting for the Government to devise a proper deterrent to stop the boats and bring down the numbers. The Conservatives criticised the funding announcement as a “desperate grab for headlines which will make no real difference”.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Labour has failed and their laughable claim to smash the gangs lies in tatters. They have no serious plan, just excuses, while ruthless criminal gangs flood our borders with illegal immigrants.
“The British public deserves real action, not empty slogans and tinkering at the edges.”
A Reform UK spokesperson said until the Government gets serious about deporting every migrant who crosses the Channel, nothing will change.
They added: “Only Reform will ensure the boats stop and every illegal that enters the country is sent home.”