Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that Germany will have to do a better job at clamping down on “irregular migration” and deporting those who don’t legally reside in the country.
Scholz said that Germany, however, would continue to provide protection for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war. “Our responsibility in the face of this terrible war of aggression naturally also includes providing protection for Ukrainian citizens in the European Union,”
More than 1 million Ukrainians have found shelter in Germany since Russia invaded their country more than a year ago. In addition, more than 200,000 people from countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Turkiye have applied for asylum in 2022.
Local communities have for months said they’re struggling to house the many newcomers to Germany and have been calling on the federal government to help them with accommodation, schooling and financial support for all. While Ukrainians have in general been warmly welcomed by Germans, asylum-seekers from the Middle East or Africa have experienced more hostility with the number of attacks on asylum centres rising again over the last year. Scholz stressed that “effective answers to the challenges of flight and migration will only be possible by means of a European framework.”
Germany has long been one of the most popular destinations for migrants in Europe, and the government has been lobbying for those who come to be distributed across Europe more fairly — but to little avail.
By the end of last year, about 240,000 people were going through the asylum procedure and around 168,000 people had been rejected as asylum-seekers and were obliged to leave the country, according to the Mediendienst Integration group, which researches migration in Germany. However, only 12,945 people who were required to leave Germany were eventually deported in 2022.
