Migration, Integration, Asylum Political Developments in Germany 2018 Annual Policy Report by the German National Contact Point for the European Migration Network (EMN) Forschung Funded by the European Union's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund Migration, Integration, Asylum Political Developments in Germany 2018 Annual Policy Report by the German National Contact Point for the European Migration Network (EMN) Federal Office for Migration and Refugees 2019 Summary 5 Summary The 2018 Policy Report provides an overview of the (BMI) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs most important political discussions and political, legal and Energy (BMWi) worked on the 'Skilled Labour Im- and institutional developments in the areas of migra- migration Act' (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz) an- tion, integration and asylum in the Federal Repub- nounced in the coalition agreement, which was passed lic of Germany in the year 2018. It describes changes by the federal cabinet in December 2018 and provided to the general political structure, for instance due to for various measures aimed at facilitating access to the elections, the establishment of new institutions and labour market for foreign employees. institutional developments. In addition, it deals with issues relating to legal migration, international pro- Refugee migration to Germany declined once again tection and asylum, unaccompanied minors and other in 2018 similar to the previous year with a total of vulnerable groups, integration and non-discrimination, 185,853 first-time and subsequent asylum applications citizenship and statelessness, irregular migration, re- being filed. During the same period, 216,873 decisions turn, smuggling, border control and visa policy, return, were taken on first-time and subsequent applica- human trafficking and migration and development. tions, with the overall protection rate dropping to 35% (2017: 43.4%). Several legal amendments entered into Developments in the area of the general migration, force once again in 2018. Since 1 August 2018, family asylum and integration system in 2018 were char- reunification to beneficiaries of subsidiary protection acterised by the renewed formation of the CDU/CSU has been permitted once again subject to a contingent. (Christian Democratic Union of Germany/Christian Per month, 1,000 visa may be granted for this purpose. Social Union in Bavaria) and SPD (Social Democratic With the entry into force of the 'Act Amending the Party of Germany) government in March 2018 at fed- Third Act on Asylum' (Gesetz zur dritten Änderung des eral level and their strategic orientation in the coalition Asylgesetzes), cooperation requirements for refugees agreement for the new legislative period (see Chap- similar to those in the asylum application procedure ter 2.2). European policy and international develop- were also introduced in withdrawal and revocation ments also had an impact on the national framework, procedures. Other measures were aimed at limiting for instance on the debate about the rescue of refu- and controlling immigration and speeding up the re- gees from the Mediterranean Sea and the subsequent turn of persons whose asylum claim has been rejected. distribution from the neighbouring and host countries So-called AnkER facilities (arrival, decision and return to the other EU Member States. It was in this con- facilities), for instance were opened in three Länder. text that the 'Cities of Safe Harbours' alliance was es- tablished which numerous towns and municipalities In 2018, 12,201 unaccompanied minors were admit- have since joined, declaring their willingness to admit ted to Germany, which is almost half the number of refugees. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and unaccompanied minors admitted the previous year Regular Migration and the Global Pact for Refugees, in (2017: 22,492). “4.087 unaccompanied minors filed an addition to the various crises, wars and centres of con- application for asylum in 2018 and the number of un- flict in the world and the displacement associated with accompanied minors who were granted protection them represented important decisions and innovations dropped to 59% compared to 78% in 2017”. made at international level (Chapter 2.2). In the field of integration, 202,933 persons enrolled in Labour migration and other forms of legal migration an integration course for which the federal budget had were characterised by positive macroeconomic devel- earmarked around EUR 765 million. The main coun- opments, accompanied by an increase in the number tries of origin of the course participants were Syria, Af- of employees subject to social security contributions, ghanistan and Iraq. The vocational German language with more than half of all new jobs being taken up by courses, which the Federal Office for Migration and foreign workers. The number of highly qualified third- Refugees ((BAMF) has been running together with the country nationals who held an EU Blue Card also rose Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) by 25.4% from 21,727 in 2017, bringing the total up since 2016, recorded a significant increase in the num- to 27,241. In addition, the Federal Government, under ber of course participants. 165,876 persons enrolled the auspices of the Federal Ministry of the Interior in these courses in 2018, almost twice as many as 6 Summary in 2017. In the field of non-discrimination, attacks registered in the figures on exploitation for the pur- against refugees, their shelters, relief organisations and pose of begging in 2017 which were included for the volunteers remained at a high level with 1,775 regis- first time in the situation report issued by the Fed- tered offences, although the number of offences was eral Criminal Police Office (BKA). The Federal Of- lower than the previous year. In addition, a nationwide fice for Migration and Refugees in turn trained almost anti-Semitism reporting office was set up in Germany 100 new specially-commissioned case officers for vic- in 2018 under the auspices of the Federal Govern- tims of human trafficking in 2018. ment's Anti-Semitism Commissioner, as well as an ex- pert commission on antiziganism. In the area of migration and development, the Fed- eral Government focused on three objectives in a bid In 2018, 112,340 persons obtained German citizen- to reduce the causes of displacement: to prevent the ship through naturalisation, with Turkey, Iraq and Ko- causes of displacement, to reduce the existing struc- sovo among the most important third countries of tural causes of displacement and to provide support origin. The same year, 25,995 stateless persons were for migrants who have already fled their regions of registered in Germany, representing an increase of origin, transit countries and host countries. An impor- 1,345 year-on-year. tant instrument in this context is, among others, the federal return programme 'Returning to New Oppor- In the field of irregular migration, smuggling, bor- tunities' (Perspektive Heimat), under which three new der controls and visa policy, the number of persons migration advice centres were established in Afghani- who were found to be illegally entering Germany by stan, Iraq and Senegal in 2018 where the International the Federal Police dropped by more than 20% com- Organisation for Migration (IMO) counsels refugees pared to the previous year, with the main countries of about their reintegration prospects in their country of origin being Afghanistan, Nigeria and Iraq. At the same origin. In 2018, EUR 11.6 million were earmarked in time, the number of persons who were enforceably the Federal Government's budget to finance the mi- required to leave the federal territory rose by 7,098 gration advice centres. Furthermore, the 'Employment to 235,957 of which 180,124 were persons whose re- Offensive for the Middle East' was continued, creating moval had been suspended (Duldung). In addition to more than 68,800 jobs in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria providing technical equipment, the Federal Police par- and Turkey for refugees, internally displaced persons ticipated in Frontex measures in other European coun- (IDPs) and residents of host communities. tries throughout the year, deploying 919 police offic- ers. At European level, the Regulation on the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) entered into force in October. It means that third- country nationals who do not need a visa to enter the Schengen Zone (2018: 61 countries), will in future have to apply for an ETIAS visa and will be required to un- dergo a detailed security check in this context. In the field of return policy, the number of persons removed exceeded the number of voluntary returns supported under the REAG/GARP programme in 2018 for the first time since 2012. 15,941 persons left the federal territory supported under the REAG/GARP programme whereas 23,617 persons were removed, just under one-third of whom were Dublin transfers (7,102 Dublin transfers). Germany also signed a read- mission agreement with Guinea and an agreement on simplified readmission with Moldova. The number of officially registered victims of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation was 489 in 2017. There were no data available for 2018 at the time this report was finalised. 180 victims were registered in the area of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation. Two victims were The European Migration Network 7 The European Migration Network The European Migration Network (EMN) was launched In general, the National Contact Points do not conduct by the European Commission in 2003 on behalf of primary research but collect, analyse and present ex- the European Council in order to satisfy the need isting data. Exceptions might occur when existing data of a regular exchange of reliable information in the and information are not sufficient. EMN studies are field of migration and asylum at the European level. elaborated in accordance with uniform specifications Since 2008, Council Decision 2008/381/EC forms the valid for all EU Member States plus Norway in order legal basis of the EMN and National Contact Points to achieve comparable EU-wide results.