Germany’s efforts to repatriate migrants from Italy and other EU countries have yielded limited results. According to data from the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), cited by the Bild newspaper, Germany submitted 12,841 requests to Italy to take back registered migrants, with 10,402 of those requests being approved. However, only three migrants were actually repatriated from Germany to Italy.
Other EU countries have also shown reluctance to accept migrants and asylum seekers from Germany, despite being responsible for them under the Dublin Regulation. Germany submitted 15,453 requests to Greece, of which only 219 were accepted, and 22 people were eventually repatriated. Requests to Bulgaria and Croatia also met with limited success, with only a small number of migrants being repatriated despite the countries’ initial agreements to take them back.
CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann has criticized the lack of progress, saying, “These numbers are a further proof that the asylum system in Europe is not functioning.” He added, “We need a policy change in migration policy. We must stop illegal migration to Germany and turn back at the German borders.