Since the introduction of expanded border checks in May 2025, Germany's Federal Police has prevented more than 28,000 people from entering Germany, according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). Meanwhile across Europe, changes in policy are leading to a considerable drop in asylum applications.
According to a report published by the weekly German news magazine Focus, a total of 28,684 irregular migrants were turned away at Germany's land borders between May 2025 and April 7, 2026.
Meanwhile, 1,104 irregular migrants were permitted to enter Germany despite these border controls in cases where they were found to belong to a vulnerable group, such as unaccompanied minors.
Of all the people who were turned away, 1,242 were already registered as asylum seekers in other EU nations.
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Germany no longer asylum leader in EU
Meanwhile, the weekly Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported that the number of asylum applications in Germany in the first quarter of 2026 had fallen by 23 percent compared to the same period last year.
A total of 28,922 applications for protection were filed in the first three months of the year.
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This marks the first time since 2015 that Germany has sunk in European asylum statistics ranking at fourth place; for over a decade, Germany had held the top position.
Welt am Sonntag further reported that now the highest number of asylum applications in Europe was in France (34,643), followed by Spain (32,630) and Italy (32,602).
The report was based on previously unpublished figures from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).
Syrians no longer top asylum demographic
According to that report, a total of 173,082 asylum applications were filed in the first quarter of 2026 across the 27 member states of the EU as well as Norway and Switzerland (known as EU+), marking an overall decrease of 18 percent compared to the same period last year.
Most asylum applications in the EU came from Venezuela (21,542), followed closely by Afghanistan (21,402), and then Bangladesh (9,738).
Unlike in previous years, Syria now ranks only in fifth place since the official end to the civil war in the country in December 2024. The number of asylum applications from Syrians in the EU+ region had fallen by 63 percent to 5,556 by the end of March.
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There were also only a few new applications lodged by Ukrainian war refugees: the number of Ukrainian asylum seekers stood merely at 4,073, highlighting a 57 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.
Experts cite the decline in asylum applications from Syria and Ukraine as one of the major reasons behind the decrease in asylum applications overall in Germany.
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with KNA