A significant decrease in the number of asylum seekers receiving protection has been observed in Germany. Data reveals the recognition rate for the first half of 2025 has fallen to 26.5 percent, a stark contrast to the 59-72 percent range seen in the corresponding periods of the previous four years. This information was reported by the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, citing a response from the German government to a query from the Left (Die Linke) parliamentary group.
The period also saw a substantial increase in legal challenges to asylum decisions. Nearly 90,900 new asylum lawsuits were filed in the first six months of 2025, surpassing the total number filed throughout 2023.
Clara Bünger, the Left’s spokesperson for asylum policy in the Bundestag, expressed concern that the figures reinforce critiques of the “safe country of origin” concept and its associated expedited procedures. She cautioned that these accelerated processes may inadvertently lead to a failure in identifying those in need of protection.
While courts issued approximately 52,000 asylum decisions during the first half of 2025 – a faster rate than in recent years – almost 9,000 asylum seekers initially rejected by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) were subsequently granted protection status after court rulings or renewed administrative reviews.
Bünger suggested a potential link between the current political climate and the practices of asylum authorities. She noted that significantly higher protection rates are often observed across the European Union and underscored the importance of robust legal recourse mechanisms, stating, “In asylum law, we are often literally dealing with matters of life and death”. Currently, Germany has over 172,000 asylum cases pending in courts.