Figures released by the German interior ministry show that in the first half of 2023, the average asylum procedure took 6.6 months, one month less than in 2022.

The left-wing party Die Linke, which questioned the government in Parliament about the current waiting times, said the shorter periods might be due to a change made at the start of this year to what is counted as processing time. Previously, the time needed to establish that Germany was responsible for a person’s asylum claim under the Dublin Regulation was included – now, the clock starts ticking only after that question has been answered. 

According to EU regulations, asylum procedures should usually be completed within six months. But in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany’s asylum agency, BAMF, went over that limit, with average times of more than eight months.

The procedure time is now back to what it was in 2021 – around 198 days. However, in the so-called Anchor Centers – one-stop migrant reception and asylum processing centers established under the previous government – asylum seekers are having to wait longer than the average (about 6.7 months). That’s despite claims that the Anchor Centers would be more efficient and would speed up procedures.

Country of origin affects procedure time

The government figures show that how long applicants have to wait for a decision on their asylum application is dependent on where they come from. Asylum seekers from Afghanistan have to wait more than nine months on average for a decision, even though they ultimately receive protection status in nearly 100% of cases.

Applicants forced to wait the longest are Nigerians (16.2 months), Senegalese (12.8 months) and Iranians (10.5), the figures show. Senegal is listed as a "safe country of origin," a classification some want expanded to include more countries, with the aim of making it easier, and faster, to return their nationals. But applicants from Moldova, which is not yet a "safe country", had the fastest average asylum procedure time (2.1 months). According to the Left Party, that goes to show that merely categorizing states as safe does not speed up the procedure.

It follows debates surrounding a recent proposal by the opposition conservative parties (CDU/CSU) to expand the list of safe countries of origin so that asylum procedures – and forced returns of those whose claims fail – are faster.

The push to reform the asylum system to enable more, faster deportations, has received a renewed impetus in Europe following the fatal attacks by foreigners, one of whom was a failed asylum seeker, in Belgium and France.

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has added his voice to the debate: in an interview published in the weekly Der Spiegel on Friday, the German leader said the country needs to start deporting "on a large scale" those who don’t have the legal right to stay.

With AFP