Friedrich Merz has bilt its campaign on implementing a U-turn in Germany's migration policies, but he failed to deliver. For the past twelve years, the number of annual asylum applications in Germany has consistently exceeded the 100,000 threshold.

“More than 300,000 a year, as in 2023, is definitely far too many. I think, to use Michael Kretschmer’s words – somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 – is roughly what we can still manage with our integration capacity today,” Mr. Merz told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung last year.

By 2025, however, Mr. Merz – now serving as federal chancellor – has already exceeded that limit.

By the end of August, Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) had registered 104,012 first-time and subsequent asylum applications. This means the 100,000 threshold has now been surpassed every year for twelve years. According to Die Welt, until 2015 that figure was considered alarmingly high by then-Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, who warned in stern terms that “the number of asylum applications has again risen significantly over the previous year, by more than 60 percent.”

“The last time higher numbers were recorded was in 1999.” Afghans, Syrians and Turks submitted the highest number of asylum applications.

By 31 August 2025, a total of 30,779 Afghans had applied for asylum in Germany, followed by 18,303 Syrians. Turkish citizens filed a total of 9,996 applications. From Africa, there were 17,625 applications, including 3,063 Somalis and 1,790 Eritreans.

Merz Government Deports Fewer Asylum Seekers Than the Previous Coalition

The number of transfer requests submitted by the German government under the Dublin III procedure has fallen since the beginning of the year – particularly since Mr. Merz took office. Five EU member states – Poland, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece – continue to reject nearly all German requests to take back migrants arriving from Germany.

Between January and August 2025, German authorities submitted a total of 12,132 transfer requests to these five countries (Poland, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece). In the end, however, only 489 transfers were actually carried out – meaning the partner countries approved just four percent of requests.

Poland’s figures illustrate the trend: under the new CDU/SPD government, the number of transfers has in some months even declined further. In May, Poland received 98 requests and approved 30. By June this had dropped to 78 requests (20 transfers), in July to 61 requests (13 transfers) and in August to 62 requests (22 transfers). Under the previous “traffic-light” coalition, 178 migrants were returned between January and April, but this number fell to just 85 between May and August.

Romania has also received fewer transfer requests in recent months, particularly since the new government took office. The figures (tarnsfer requests / actual transfers) fell steadily: January (70/3), February (42/12), March (26/8), April (25/9), May (29/3), June (19/2), July (16/5) and August (16/5).

The situation is also similar in Bulgaria. Transfers to the five EU countries were as follows: January (503/16), February (369/19), March (271/23), April (156/15), May (129/25), June (160/21), July (164/26) and August (128/20).

“This change of government has brought no change at all – on the contrary,” AfD politician Martin Hess complained. “This is nothing less than a political declaration of bankruptcy by Chancellor Merz. It is also a deliberate undermining of the Dublin system. Brussels is watching this ongoing breach of law without lifting a finger. Anyone who talks about a ‘migration turnaround’ must deliver results – and immediately: consistent deportations, effective border controls, uncompromising application of the Dublin procedure. Anything else is a conscious deception of the public, to whom the federal government has for months been selling the illusion of a non-existent turnaround.”

Italy Refuses to Take Asylum Seekers Back from Germany

Between January and August 2025 alone, 4,625 transfer requests were sent to Italy – but not a single transfer was carried out. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government continues to refuse to take back migrants whose asylum applications are not Germany’s responsibility.

Greece has received 4,652 such requests since the start of the year but has carried out only 24 returns. In August, Greece did not approve a single one of the 541 transfer requests it received.

Under the Dublin III Regulation, a transfer request is a formal application from one EU member state to another, asking it to take responsibility for processing an asylum claim according to criteria that apply from the point of first entry into EU territory. However, federal government data show that anyone who reaches Germany has a good chance of being allowed to stay.