The new program will create jobs in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Tunisia and Iraq, Gerd Müller told German newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine on Wednesday. The goal is to offer additional incentives for asylum seekers in Germany to return voluntarily.

The move comes after the German government announced that a special financial incentive for rejected asylum seekers introduced in December had not been claimed as much as expected. According to the Interior Ministry, the up to €3,000 bonus was granted to 1,565 people. The bonus dubbed as a "support for reintegration" was paid in kind covering expenses such as rent, construction or renovation works, furniture or basic facilities.

Number of returnees decreasing

Overall, the number of voluntary returns between December 2017 and February 2018 decreased compared to the same period a year before. A total of 4,552 returnees were registered over the last three months. This includes people returning with the extra bonus and those making use of other programs for voluntary return. Between December 2016 and February 2017, the number stood at 8,185. Back then, the extra bonus had not been in place.

The new program aims to strengthen employment opportunities. "We are not handing out checks“, Gerd Müller reiterated. "We’re only financing projects on the ground." With help from the ministry, German tech giant Siemens will, for example, train around 5,000 young returnees and locals in Iraq to become technicians and engineers.

The Development Minister hopes the incentive will prompt between 20,000 and 30,000 asylum seekers to return home by the end of the year.