Access to the territory and push backs

Arrival at the border and border controls

The law states that asylum seekers who apply for asylum at the border have to be referred to an initial reception centre for asylum seekers.[1] However, entry into the territory has to be refused if a migrant reports at the border without the necessary documents for legal entry and if an immediate removal to the neighbouring country (as Safe Third Country) is possible.[2]

Since 2013, asylum seekers should not be sent back to neighbouring countries without their applications for international protection having been registered. It is not clear, however, whether this practice is applied in all cases: even if migrants have crossed the border – which is defined as a 30 km strip on the basis of a legal fiction laid down in the Law on the Federal Police (based on the Schengen Borders Code)[3] – they have not necessarily entered the territory,[4] and it is possible that a removal to the neighbouring state (Zurückweisung) is still carried out at this point without an examination of which country is responsible for examining the asylum application.[5] In 2023, border control authorities detected a total of 127,549 persons entering Germany irregularly, out of which 56,985 were also asking for asylum.[6]

This means that in 2023, approximately 44.7% of the 127,549 people who entered Germany irregularly also applied for asylum. This shows a significant gap between arrivals and claims for asylum. The party The Left and NGOs assume illegal push backs by the Federal Police by ignoring the claim for asylum expressed by arriving people.[7] They highlight that this correlates directly with rising stationary border controls and a tense climate in society. The Federal Government does not detect any illegal handling by the Federal Police in the official documentation and thus rejects the accusation.[8] Similarly, the BAMF stresses that there is no evidence that the reason for the difference between arrivals and claims for asylum is due to illegal push-backs by the Federal Police.[9] In the first six months of 2024, 42,307 irregular entries were recorded in Germany. Of these, 9,672 individuals applied for asylum, representing 22.9%.[10] In the second half of 2024, 40,608 irregular entries were recorded[11] leading to a total of 82,916 irregular entries in 2024. Of those, 14,846 applied for asylum, representing 17.9 %. This marks a significant decrease compared to 2023, when 44.7% of those who entered irregularly also applied for asylum.

In 2023, 35,618 persons were removed to neighbouring countries after a refusal of entry (Zurückweisung); out of these, 11,476 persons were removed to Austria.[12] During the first six months of 2024, the number of refusals of entry stood at 21,661 individuals.[13]

Germany has regularly re-introduced border controls at its borders with Austria since 2015. On 16 October 2023, controls were also introduced at the border with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland and were extended again in December 2023 and March 2024.[14] In September 2024, Germany expanded its temporary internal border controls to all land borders, including France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark, in addition to existing controls with Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and Poland.[15] The temporary imposition of border controls at the internal Schengen borders must follow the requirements of Articles 25 et seq. of the Schengen Borders Code. These European legal provisions always require a serious threat to public order or internal security to allow the use of temporary internal border controls, which can in any case only be for a limited period and as a measure of last resort. Effective from 16 September 2024, according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, these measures, approved for six months, aim to bolster internal security and reduce irregular migration, allowing German authorities to conduct checks and return individuals as per European and national law. Federal Minister Nancy Faeser emphasised the controls as essential to safeguarding against threats from Islamist terrorism and serious cross-border crime, noting the over 30,000 rejections at the eastern and southern borders since October 2023. The Federal Police, supported by increased staffing and resources, has been managing both fixed and mobile checks, adapting locations and timing to counter smuggling routes.[16] The expanded internal border controls to all land borders have received extensive criticism by NGOs and academics. Pro Asyl, for example, has criticised Germany’s expanded border controls, arguing they risk violating existing laws and could lead to frequent rejections of asylum seekers who need protection.[17] Legal scholars contend the measures are not only legally questionable but also ineffective, suggesting they serve more as a blanket approach to migration rather than a targeted security response as allowed under the Schengen Borders Code.[18] Concerns are growing that Germany’s actions could undermine the European integration project by prompting other countries to reinstate internal borders, which could weaken mutual trust within the EU.[19]

In 2023, German authorities recorded a total of 35,618 rejections of unauthorised entries at the border, with numbers rising each quarter.[20] The last quarter saw the highest count at 12,629 rejections.[21] In the first half of 2024, the trend continued with 10,173 rejections in the first quarter and 11,488 in the second, totalling 21,661 rejections by mid-year.[22] Within less than one month after the increased border controls in September 2024, the Federal Police reported about 1,000 rejections of unauthorised entries.[23] The numbers also reveal that the increase in rejections at the border has coincided with a drop in registered asylum applications for people intercepted at the border: in 2023, 45% of attempted entries included an asylum application, but in the first half of 2024, this figure fell to just 23%.[24] Among those affected are many individuals from countries with high asylum recognition rates due to the risk of persecution.[25] For instance, people from Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq.[26]

The humanitarian crisis at the Polish-Belarussian border had effects on border-crossing into Germany in 2021, with border crossings decreasing significantly since the start of 2022. In 2021, the Federal Police registered 11,231 border crossings ‘with a connection to Belarus’, with the highest number of crossings reported between September and November 2021.[27] According to the Federal Police, the main nationalities of persons crossing into Germany were from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Iran.[28] Over the course of 2022, the number of unauthorised border crossings from Poland into Germany decreased, with 8,760 detected crossings,[29] but rose again at the beginning of 2023 until the end of June to 7,962 unauthorised crossings.[30] In the first six months of 2024 year, the German Federal Police registered 3,117 unauthorised entries via the “Belarus route,” compared to a total of 11,932 entries in all of 2023,[31] according to government data. The primary nationalities recorded in the first half of 2024 were Afghan (1,140 cases), Syrian (725 cases), and Somali (243 cases), as stated in the government’s response (20/12457) to a parliamentary inquiry from the AfD (20/12297).[32] For 2023, the main nationalities were Afghan (3,725 cases), Syrian (3,382 cases), and Indian (973 cases).[33] Migration routes leading to Germany primarily affect its eastern and southern borders, with irregular migration focusing on internal borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland.[34]

In 2018, following a heated political debate, a new procedure was introduced which enables the Federal Police to refuse entry at the border and send persons back to Greece and Spain within 48 hours if they have previously applied for asylum there.[35] This procedure, dubbed the “Seehofer Deal” named after then German Minister of Interior, Horst Seehofer, is based on administrative regulations and special administrative readmission agreements with the two countries. These returns are therefore not based on the Dublin Regulation, but on a refusal of entry under the (national) notion of ‘safe third countries’ in combination with administrative arrangements concluded with other EU Member States. Since 2019, it was only applied to persons found at the Austrian German border, as this was the only border where controls continue to take place. While being heavily debated in 2018, the introduction of the new procedure had little effect in practice: between August 2018 and May 2021, only 50 persons were returned (46 returns to Greece and 4 to Spain) on the basis of the readmission agreements with these countries.[36] While no refusals of entry were carried out between May 2021 and the end of 2021 according to the Federal Police,[37] two persons were returned to Spain each year in 2022 and 2023 and none to Greece.[38] Therefore, the political debate over the return procedures at the border, which had even triggered a government crisis in 2018, has been described as ‘absurd’ in retrospect.[39]

The legality of the new procedure has been questioned by legal experts,[40] and forced returns that took place on its basis were subject to court challenges, including requests for interim measures to bring back the forcibly returned applicants. The responsible court – the administrative court of Munich – granted interim measures in urgent decisions and ordered the German Federal Police to bring back asylum seekers from Greece in two cases in 2019 and 2021.[41] The 2021 decision on interim measures states that the Dublin regulation has to be applied instead of the procedure foreseen by the administrative regulations agreements, and that the removal cannot take place without an examination by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, which is the competent authority for the Dublin procedure. In May 2021, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community stated it did not intend to change its practice and its legal assessment in light of the court decision of May 2021.[42] In October 2021, the Ministry of Interior declared its willingness to conclude a renewed agreement with Greece and to potentially reintroduce border controls at airports with flights from Greece.[43] However, the declaration occurred only weeks before the end of term of the Minister of Interior who had initiated the procedure. No information is available as to whether the new Federal government continues to apply the agreements. More information on the procedure and the legal challenges brought against it can be found in the 2019 Update to this report as well as in ECRE’s assessment of transfers of asylum seekers based on these agreements.[44]

On October 15, 2024 the European Court of Human Rights found in the case H.T. v. Germany and Greece, regarding the agreement with Greece, that the automatic removal of the applicant from Germany to Greece was unlawful, due in part to the lack of protections in administrative agreements like the Seehofer deal, which bypass essential safeguards for asylum seekers.[45] The Court underscored states’ obligations to ensure that asylum seekers are protected by legal safeguards before removal.[46]

H.T., had filed a complaint against Germany and Greece in March 2019, arguing that his treatment and detention in Greece, along with his forced return by Germany, breached Article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment), Article 5 (right to liberty), and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).[47] The Court found Germany violated Article 3 by failing to inform H.T. about his removal’s destination, legal basis, or appeal options, while also denying him access to legal counsel and translation services. The administrative agreement with Greece lacked necessary guarantees, and Germany failed to confirm that H.T. would have effective access to asylum and not face human rights violations in Greece. H.T.’s detention conditions in Greece were also found to violate Article 3.[48]

Border monitoring

There is no independent border monitoring mechanism in Germany.

Legal access to the territory

On top of family reunification, there are two main ways for asylum seekers to legally access the German territory: via the Government’s resettlement and humanitarian admission programmes and via relocation from other EU Member States. In addition, a specific admission programme for Afghan nationals was introduced in October 2022 (see Differential treatment of specific nationalities in the procedure).

Resettlement

Since 2016, the German resettlement programme is part of Germany’s contribution to the EU resettlement scheme.[49] Next to the national quota, resettlement includes admissions of Syrian refugees from Türkiye in the context of the so-called EU-Turkey statement. In addition, the Federal Government can decide on humanitarian admission programmes on an ad hoc, temporary basis. Such a temporary humanitarian admission programme was in place for 20,000 Syrian refugees between 2013 and 2015.[50]

In the resettlement programme, UNHCR proposes refugees for resettlement to Germany. The selection process is based on admission criteria defined in the admission regulation and selection interviews of the BAMF, security interviews carried out by the security institutions and the visa procedure in responsibility of the Foreign Office.[51] Once resettled refugees arrive in Germany, they first stay in a reception centre for up to two weeks. Whereas in previous years, all resettlement refugees were first housed in the reception centre of Friedland (Lower Saxony), the resettlement guidelines for 2022 foresee housing in Friedland as well as Doberlug-Kirchhain (Brandenburg) or other facilities made available by Federal States.[52] They are then allocated to a municipality, where they are issued a residence permit which is equivalent in rights to residence permits granted to recognised refugees.[53]

In 2019, the German government introduced an additional private sponsorship programme in the form of a pilot scheme with 500 additional places. In the programme called “Neustart im Team (NesT)” groups of at least four persons commit to accompany and support resettled refugees for at least one year and to pay for their rent for two years. This was lowered to one year on 1 July 2022.[54] The Federal government decided to make the programme permanent from 1 January 2023, with 200 places available per year. The conditions were slightly changed: groups of four people can apply to be sponsors; and in contrast to the pilot phase, they only need to pay rent (without electricity, water and heating) for one year.[55]

The Federal States also run admission programmes mainly for Syrian nationals, but these are mostly geared towards family members of beneficiaries of international protection residing in the respective Federal States (see Family Reunification). According to information provided by the BAMF, in principle, all federal states except Bavaria had implemented state admission programs for Syrians with a family connection in the respective federal states (LAP Extended Family Reunification). In 2024, these remained only in Berlin, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia. Berlin and Thuringia also carried out this form of admission programs for Afghan nationals in 2024. All admission programs on the state levels expired on 31 December 2024. Brandenburg implemented a resettlement-like program in 2021 (admission of up to 200 particularly vulnerable persons from Jordan, including war refugees and members of persecuted minorities). The program was completed in 2024. Berlin is also implementing a resettlement-like program (for the admission of up to 700 particularly vulnerable persons from Lebanon within 5 years). However, the program cannot currently be implemented due to the security situation in Lebanon.[56]

Source: Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, ‘Resettlement und humanitäre Aufnahmen’, available in German at https://bit.ly/3H4rqhK.

Note that the website www.resettlement.de provides more detailed statistics (under ‘current admissions’) on every arrival that was processed through Friedland since 2015 and until the end of 2021. However, the counting differs from the Ministry of Interior, since the national and state-level humanitarian admission / family reunification programmes are also included and since the statistics only refer to persons who passed through the reception centre in Friedland.

Numbers with an * come from information provided by the BAMF on 10 May 2024, 26 February 2025 and on 28 May 2025. Numbers refer to the quota of the corresponding year, not necessarily the actual year of arrival.

Germany’s resettlement and humanitarian intake for 2024 and 2025’s combined aims were to admit a total of 13,100 refugees, with 6,540 places in 2024 and 6,560 in 2025. The program prioritises vulnerable individuals, particularly those from countries experiencing crises like Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, and Somalia. The selection process considers protection needs, family reunification, and integration prospects, while maintaining security checks. The individuals eligible for resettlement include nationals from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Congo, Burundi, and Eritrea. Additionally, people from other countries in need of protection, as well as stateless individuals, can also be considered. Germany also has an “Unallocated Quota” for urgent cases, providing up to 50 spots per year for emergency situations[59] and cases with ties to Germany, as referred by UNHCR. This allows for resettlement from countries not previously designated for intake.[60] The resettlement places for 2024 and 2025 are allocated as follows: up to 3,240 federal resettlement spots per year for refugees currently in Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Libya, including up to 200 places for the “Neustart im Team (NesT)” program; up to 3,000 places for Syrian and stateless refugees from Türkiye under the EU-Turkey Agreement; up to 100 places for Berlin’s state program; and 200 places for Brandenburg’s state program in 2024.[61]

Germany pledged a total of 6,500 resettlement places in 2023, which is higher than in previous years. Out of the 6,500 places, up to 3,000 places are allocated to the national resettlement programme, up to 200 places are foreseen for the NesT programme, up to 3,000 places are allocated for admission of Syrian nationals from Türkiye under the EU Türkiye statement, and 500 places are allocated to admission programmes of the Federal states of Berlin (300) and Brandenburg (200). A total of 4,665 people were admitted in 2023 (final numbers).[62] Out of these, 2,129 individuals were admitted under the national resettlement programmes, 438 through admission programmes of the Federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg; 16 in the scheme of the aforementioned NesT programme and 50 persons under an “unallocated quota”.[63]

According to information provided by the BAMF in May 2025, in 2024, a total of 2,513 individuals were admitted through resettlement procedures (§ 23 IV of the Residence Act (AufenthG) under the 2024 quota. The primary countries of first admission for resettlement under the 2024 quota were Egypt (1020 persons), Jordan (440), Kenya (870) and Libya (132, via ETM Rwanda). Additionally, 51 individuals entered Germany under the “Unallocated Quota” from various countries.[64] Under the humanitarian admission procedure pursuant to § 23 II AufenthG, 2,277 individuals arrived from Türkiye, while 999 persons entered through the federal admission program from Pakistan. As more individuals from the 2023 quota are expected to arrive throughout 2024, the final number of admissions from the 2023 procedure remains undetermined as of February 2025.[65]

For humanitarian admission programmes for Afghanistan, see Differential treatment of specific nationalities in the procedure.

Relocations

Germany has relocated a (small) number of asylum seekers from other EU Member states based on temporary and ad hoc agreements over the last years. In March 2020, Germany agreed to admit 243 minors from Greece based on an agreement of a ‘coalition of the willing’ at EU level. Following the fire in the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, the government agreed to admit an additional 150 unaccompanied minor refugees and 1,553 persons in family groups.[66] A total of 210 unaccompanied minors from Greece were relocated to Germany in 2020.[67] In total, 2,812 persons were admitted between April 2020 and the end of 2021.[68] In 2022, admissions for persons rescued at sea continue on a case-by-case basis. As of May 2022, a total of 936 persons were admitted since the summer of 2018.[69] In August 2022, Germany pledged to admit 3,500 persons from Italy under the new EU Solidarity mechanism initiated by the French Council presidency.[70] A total of 212 were admitted to Germany through this mechanism in 2022 according to the BAMF.[71] Additionally, 876 persons were relocated under this scheme from Italy, Cyprus and Spain until April 2023.[72]

According to information provided by the BAMF in February 2025, Germany committed on June 22, 2022, to accepting a total of 3,500 asylum seekers as part of the voluntary solidarity mechanism, aimed at supporting EU member states most affected by arrivals via the Mediterranean route. In this context, a total of 584 individuals were transferred to Germany in 2024, including 567 from Cyprus and 17 from Spain. Between January 1 and December 31, 2024, a total of 853 decisions were made on asylum applications from individuals who had been relocated to Germany under the voluntary European solidarity mechanism. These decisions may also include cases of individuals who were transferred in the previous year but whose asylum applications were processed within the requested period.[73]

Humanitarian visas

According to the EU Visa Code, a visa with limited territorial validity can be issued by Member States when they consider it necessary on humanitarian grounds, for reasons of national interest or because of international obligations even if the conditions for issuing a uniform Schengen visa are not fulfilled (Article 25 paragraph 1a of the Visa Code). Germany however does not issue humanitarian visas in the context of asylum applications. For visas issued in the context of evacuations from Afghanistan see Differential treatment of specific nationalities in the procedure.

[1] Section 18 (1) Asylum Act.

[2] Section 18(2) Asylum Act and Sections 14 and 15 Residence Act.

[3] Section 2(2) Federal Police Act.

[4] Section 13(2) Residence Act.

[5] Pro Asyl, Fortgesetzte Grenzkontrollen: rechtswidrige Zurückweisung von Geflüchteten, 28 April 2022, available in German here.

[6] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 0/12343, 05 September 2024, available in German here.

[7] Bayrischer Flüchtlingsrat, Belege für systematische Pushbacks nun auch an der deutsch-österreichischen Grenze, 30 Mai 2023, available in German at: https://tinyurl.com/2wv3ds2s; taz.de, Hinweise auf Pushbacks in Bayern, 31 Mai 2023, available in German at: https://tinyurl.com/ym5f54un.

[8] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/8274, 07 September 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/49GtKZX.

[9] Statement provided by the BAMF on 28 May 2025.

[10] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/12827, 05 September 2024, available in German here.

[11] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/14902, 5 February 2025, available in German here. 40.

[12] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/12827, 05 September 2024, available in German here.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Dw.de, Innenministerin Faeser verlängert Grenzüberwachung, 8 December 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/48iodYA; European Commission, ‘Temporary Reintroduction of Border Control’, available at: https://bit.ly/3HLwSGd.

[15] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, ‘Binnengrenzkontrollen an allen deutschen Landgrenzen angeordnet’, 16 September 2024, available in German here.

[16] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, ‘Binnengrenzkontrollen an allen deutschen Landgrenzen angeordnet’, 16 September 2024, available in German here.

[17] Deutschlandfunk, ‚Unionspolitiker beharren auf Zurückweisung von Migranten an deutschen Grenzen – Kritik von Pro Asyl‘, 4 September 2024, available in German here.

[18] Evangelia Tsourdi and Eva Maria Bredler, ‘Not only legally dubious but also ineffective’, (Verfassungsblog, 27 September 2024), available here.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Response by the Federal Government to a parliamentary request by Die Linke, 20/12827, 5 September 2024, available in German here, 13.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Ibid., 2.

[23] Handelsblatt, ‚1000 Zurückweisungen seit Einführung von Grenzkontrollen‘ (Handelsblatt, 25 October 2024), available in German here.

[24] Response by the Federal Government to a parliamentary request by Die Linke, 20/12827, 5 September 2024, available in German here, and Response by the Federal Government to a parliamentary request by Die Linke, 20/8274, 7 September 2023, available in German here.

[25] Response by the Federal Government to a parliamentary request by Die Linke, 20/12827, 5 September 2024, available in German here, 5.

[26] Ibid., 9-10.

[27] Federal Police, Illegale Migration aus Belarus über Polen nach Deutschland konstant auf niedrigem Niveau: 361 Feststellungen durch die Bundespolizei seit Jahresbeginn, 2 February 2022, available in German here.

[28] Deutschlandfunk Kultur, ‘Die neue Belarus-Route’, 4 November 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Ilgb4R.

[29] Information provided by the Federal Police, 14 March 2023.

[30] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/8274, 07 September 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/49GtKZX.

[31] Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Alternative for Germany, 20/12457, 1 August 2024, available in German here, 2.

[32] Ibid., 2-3.

[33] Ibid., 2.

[34] Ibid., 4.

[35] The text of the German-Spanish Administrative Arrangement is available at: http://bit.ly/2G2lZ7E. The text of the German-Greek Administrative Arrangement is available at: https://bit.ly/3HkJ4Nx.

[36] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, Response to written question by Ulla Jelpke (The Left), 14 May 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3hnv2jp.

[37] Information provided by the Federal Police, 6 April 2022.

[38] Information provided by the Federal Police, 14 March 2024 and 14 March 2023.

[39] Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Streit war absurd, 3 November 2019, available in German here.

[40] A collection of statements by various experts and institutions can be found at: https://bit.ly/2zwUPTs. See also Anna Lübbe, Vereinbarkeit der Zurückweisungspraxis unter dem deutsch-griechischen »Seehofer-Abkommen« mit unionsrechtlichen Vorgaben zum effektiven Rechtsschutz, 6 December 2018, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2VyPGQq; ECRE, Bilateral Agreements: Implementing or Bypassing the Dublin Regulation?, December 2018, available at: https://bit.ly/4ar7nsJ.

[41] Administrative Court Munich, Decision M 22 E 21.30294, 4 May 2021 – see Asylmagazin 7-8/2021, 292, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3ID8I13; Decision M 18 E 19.32238, 8 August 2019 – see Asylmagazin 10-11/2019, 371; available in German at: https://www.asyl.net/rsdb/m27488/.

[42] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, Response to written question by Ulla Jelpke (The Left), 14 May 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3hnv2jp.

[43] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, ‘Kabinett berät aktuelle Migrationslage’, 20 October 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3JOjeUk.

[44] AIDA, Country Report Germany – Update on the year 2019, July 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3GlpjEQ, 20-21; See also: ECRE, Bilateral Agreements: Implementing or Bypassing the Dublin Regulation?, December 2018; available at: https://bit.ly/2GgVoEf.

[45] ECtHR, Application No 13337/19, H.T. v. Germany and Greece, 15 October 2024, available here.

[46] Ibid., paras 141-151.

[47] Ibid., paras. 1-4.

[48] Ibid., para. 162.

[49] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, Resettlement und humanitäre Aufnahmen, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3H4rqhK.

[50] resettlement.de, ‘Humanitarian admission programmes’, available at: https://bit.ly/3fSx62o.

[51] Information provided by the BAMF on 28 May 2025.

[52] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, Anordnung des Bundesministeriums des Innern und für Heimat für das Resettlement-Verfahren 2022 gemäß § 23 Abs. 4 des Aufenthaltsgesetzes (AufenthG) zur Aufnahme besonders schutzbedürftiger Flüchtlinge unterschiedlicher Staatsangehörigkeit oder staatenloser Flüchtlinge aus Ägypten, Jordanien, Kenia und Libanon sowie über den UNHCR Evakuierungsmechanismus in Niger (aus Libyen) vom 24.03.2022, 24 March 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3TIdpNv.

[53] resettlement.de, ‘Resettlement, available at: https://bit.ly/3qVMD7P.

[54] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, Pilotprogramm NesT wird reguläres Aufnahmeprogramm für Flüchtlinge, 01 July 2022, available in German at: http://bit.ly/3zapdi5.

[55] NeustartimTeam.de, available in German at: https://bit.ly/49l65P8.

[56] This information on the state admission programs were provided by the BAMF on 28 May 2025.

[57] BAMF, Das Bundesamt in Zahlen 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3vVK0I6.

[58] Order of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Home Affairs for the resettlement procedure 2024/2025 pursuant to Section 23 (4) of the Residence Act (AufenthG) for the admission of refugees in particular need of protection of different nationalities or stateless refugees in particular from Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya and Pakistan of April 10, 2024, available in German here.

[59] Ibid.

[60] Ibid., 2.

[61] Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs, ‘Resettlement – Resettlement of persons in need of protection’, available in German here.

[62] Information provided by the BAMF on 28 May 2025.

[63] Ibid.

[64] Information provided by the BAMF on 28 May 2025.

[65] Information provided by the BAMF on 26 February 2025.

[66] BAMF, Migrationsbericht 2020 der Bundesregierung, December 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3nTDv1J, 22.

[67] Reply of the Parliamentary State Secretary for the Ministry of the Interior to a question by Gökay Akbulut (The Left), 19/25159, 11 December 2020, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3FXPIsn, 11.

[68] BAMF, Migrationsbericht 2020 der Bundesregierung, December 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3nTDv1J, 22.

[69] BAMF, Das Bundesamt in Zahlen 2021, 20 September 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3k0wtZy, 79. A detailed overview of rescues with a pledge of admission by Germany and the number of persons rescued and relocated to Germany is available in a parliamentary request of April 2022: Federal Government, Response to information request by The Left, 20/1316, 6 April 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3v9GObt, 10 et seq.

[70] Infomigrants, Germany to take in migrants from Italy under EU solidarity mechanism, 10 August 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3LOovyB.

[71] Information provided by the BAMF, 9 March 2023.

[72] BAMF, Das Bundesamt in Zahlen 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3vVK0I6.

[73] Information provided by the BAMF on 26 February 2025.