2015: The Year of the „Refugee Crisis“ in Germany
Back to: History and Background of Migration in Germany
Looking back at the key year 2015
In 2015, migration became a regular item on the news agenda and became more and more the central topic of political discussion1.The number of people seeking protection in Germany and other EU countries rose rapidly, posing new challenges for the government, aid organizations and the population. A retrospective view is therefore important to understand the background and aftermath of the so-called refugee crisis. In particular, the long-term and successful integration of migrants presents Germany with a long-term task that must be tackled.
Where do the people come from and where are they going?
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees provides statistics and current figures at regular intervals – including in the year 20152. Here and in numerous other sources, more detailed information on the increase of migrants in Germany can be found.
1. Syria 2. Afghanistan 3. Somalia 4. South Sudan 5. Sudan 6. Democratic Republic of Kongo 7. Central African Republic 8. Myanmar 9. Eritrea 10. Colombia
The following chart gives an overview of the migration figures from different countries and demonstrates once again how clearly Syria stands out.4:
In fact, Germany is the country with the highest number of asylum applications within the EU. In addition, the increase in the number of migrants outside the EU was also clearly noticeable. In the following you will find a list of the ten main receiving countries of refugees and, as it turns out, Germany remains one of the most frequent destination countries in a worldwide comparison 6:
1. Turkey 2. Pakistan 3. Lebanon 4. Iran 5. Ethiopia 6. Jordan 7. Kenya 8. Uganda 9. Democratic Republic of Kongo 10. Germany
In the following you can see which federal states were particularly affected by the influx of immigrants in 2015 and thus had to withstand major challenges.
Aid in the year of the refugee crisis
In 2015, when the influx of asylum seekers and refugees was particularly high, the first priority was to provide migrants with first aid. Perhaps you were already part of the „welcome society“ of the time. Around 8 million helpers and volunteers supported short or long-term municipal or church offers of help and were mainly involved in:
Footnotes
- Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung(2015): Fluchtmigration nach Deutschland und Europa: Einige Hintergründe, [online] http://www.bpb.de/gesellschaft/migration/kurzdossiers/217369/fluchtmigration-hintergruende [05.02.19]
- Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (2018): Aktuelle Zahlen zu Asyl (03/2018), [online]. http://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DE/Downloads/Infothek/Statistik/Asyl/aktuelle-zahlen-zu-asyl-maerz-2018.pdf?__blob=publicationFile S. 4 [03.05.2018]
- Aktion Deutschland hilft (2018): Infografik: Fluchtursachen – warum fliehen Menschen [online] https://www.aktion-deutschland-hilft.de/de/mediathek/infografiken/infografik-fluchtursachen-warum-fliehen-menschen/ [14.12.2018]
- Cornelia Schu (2017): Sachverständigenrat deutscher Stiftungen für Integration und Migration: Fakten zur Einwanderung in Deutschland, p. 1 [online].https://www.svr-migration.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/SVR_Fakten_zur_Einwanderung.pdf [04.05.2018]
- Vgl. Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (2018): Aktuelle Zahlen zu Asyl (03/2018), [online]
- Aktion Deutschland hilft (2018): Infografik: Fluchtursachen – warum fliehen Menschen [online] https://www.aktion-deutschland-hilft.de/de/mediathek/infografiken/infografik-fluchtursachen-warum-fliehen-menschen/ [14.12.2018]
- Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (2016): Bundesamt in Zahlen (2016), [online]. http://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DE/Publikationen/Broschueren/bundesamt-in-zahlen-2015.pdf?__blob=publicationFile S. 16 [03.05.2018]
- Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (2016): Bundesamt in Zahlen (2016), [online]. http://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DE/Publikationen/Broschueren/bundesamt-in-zahlen-2015.pdf?__blob=publicationFile S. 16 [03.05.2018]