The recently extended suspension of family reunification is showing a clear impact. According to the Interior Ministry, only a single actual entry took place under this category in November. In the same month last year, the figure stood at 241 people, and in November 2023 it was as high as 1,146. Overall, the decline in asylum numbers continued in the penultimate month of the year.
In the first eleven months, 15,337 asylum applications were filed, representing a decrease of almost exactly 35 percent. Of these, only 6,417 were original applications, meaning they were submitted by newly arrived individuals rather than by children born later, for example. In November, when 1,012 asylum applications were registered, the year-on-year decline reached 46 percent, well above the monthly average decrease. Slightly more than half of all applications filed so far this year came from people under the age of 18. Women accounted for 41.4 percent of all applications.
According to the Interior Ministry, an additional factor continues to apply to women, as many Afghan women have found it easier to obtain asylum following a European court ruling and are therefore attempting to upgrade their status from subsidiary protection to full asylum.
Afghans file the most applications
Afghans top the list this year with 4,843 asylum applications, followed by Syrians with 3,865 and Somalis with 931. Deportations to all three countries have taken place this year for the first time in many decades.
According to preliminary figures, there have been 12,883 removals from the country so far this year. Of these, 52 percent were voluntary. Nearly half of those deported had criminal convictions, the Interior Ministry said.
In the first eleven months of the year, protection status was granted 11,185 times. Asylum status was awarded in just over 7,700 cases, with the remainder split between subsidiary protection and humanitarian residence permits. Recognition rates were particularly high for Afghans, at 75 percent. The number of women granted asylum was significantly higher than that of men, at around 2,550 compared with about 1,990. Among Syrians, the asylum recognition rate fell to 22 percent this year. However, Syrians were by far the most frequent recipients of subsidiary protection, which was granted in 1,140 cases.
