1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
German election 2025Middle East crisisRussia's war in Ukraine
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV

Seeking asylum

January 21, 2010

There was a sharp increase in the number of people seeking asylum in Germany in 2009. Most of the people awarded refugee status were from Iraq.

https://p.dw.com/p/LdK4
The scene after a bomb blast in Afghanistan
The number of asylum seekers leaving Afghanistan, hoping for a new life in Germany, doubled last yearImage: AP

The number of people seeking asylum in Germany increased sharply in 2009.

More than 27,700 asylum applications were registered by the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. The number represents a 25 percent increase compared to 2008, the Interior Ministry reported on Thursday. This was the second year in a row that applications for asylum rose.

Fleeing war

There was an especially large increase in the number of asylum seekers from war-torn Afghanistan. In 2009, about 3,375 Afghans applied for asylum - more than double the number who applied in 2008. Other countries with a high number of refugees leaving for Germany included Iran, India and Nigeria.

Of nearly 27,700 people seeking asylum here, about a third were recognised as refugees under the Geneva Convention. Most of them came from Iraq (6,538), followed by Afghanistan (3,375) and Turkey (1,408).

Overall decline

Despite 2009's increase in the number of asylum seekers, the number of applicants is still quite small compared to the previous decade. Ten years ago, about 100,000 people applied for asylum in Germany, and in 1992 the figure was around 440,000.

smh/dpa/afp/kna/epd

Editor: Susan Houlton

Skip next section Explore more

Explore more

UN refugee conference hears of doors being closed to asylum seekers

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has expressed concern over a global trend toward greater restrictions and fewer rights for asylum seekers. (28.09.2009)
September 28, 2009
Ship carrying Sudanese refugees headed for Italy

EU pledges movement on refugee problem

EU pledges movement on refugee problem

The European Union has said it will take steps to correct illegal-immigration problems after Italy's renewed pleas for action. Rising waves of people are risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. (25.08.2009)
August 25, 2009
Unidentified women who fled with their families from Iraq because of the U.S-led coalition war against Saddam Hussein's regime,

Human rights groups call on Berlin to set up permanent refugee scheme

Human rights groups call on Berlin to set up permanent refugee scheme

Four hundred Iraqi refugees are set to land in Germany later this month. They are the first of a larger group that the EU has agreed to permanently resettle. But German human rights groups are calling for more. (05.03.2009)
March 5, 2009