Why do People Come to Germany

Back to: History and Background of Migration in Germany

General information

There can be various reasons why people give up their lives in their home countries and come to Germany. First of all, a distinction must be made as to whether the home country of the respective person is within or outside the EU. While the backgrounds of EU citizens are not recorded centrally, the motives of asylum applicants are part of the asylum procedure. 1

EU foreigners
However, since the microcensus often asks about the motives, it can be seen that most EU citizens come to Germany either for family reasons or in the course of their career and training 
Non-EU foreigners

Among the non-EU foreigners who immigrated to Germany in 2015, the following main reasons can be observed:

1st place:

Most non-EU foreigners came to Germany to apply for asylum:

2nd place:

The second largest group of non-EU foreigners came to Germany within the framework of the so-called family reunification. These are people who already have a family in Germany. In 2016, 106,000 people came to Germany under these circumstances.

3rd place:

Third place among the main reasons for immigration to Germany is entry for the purpose of education and further training

4th place:

The work context is on 4th place.

Escape to Europe: backgrounds

It is very difficult to define the exact reasons for the refugee crisis in 2015. 2 However, there are some aspects that have definitely made a major contribution to the situation.3

  • War in Syria: most refugees who fled to Germany in 2015 come from Syria. Four million refugees had already moved to neighboring countries and yet more and more people were coming to Europe, especially to Germany.
  • Conflicts in Afghanistan
  • Poverty & poor living conditions: many refugees flee their home country to get a chance for a better life. Poor working conditions, few legal employment opportunities and a poor economic situation mean that people have to look for a new home.
If you would like to find out more about the reasons for fleeing to Europe, please visit the chapter Migration in Europe: History and Background„

Footnotes

  1. Sachverständigenrat deutscher Stiftungen für Integration und Migration(2017): Fakten zur Einwanderung in Deutschland, [online]https://www.svr-migration.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/SVR_Fakten_zur_Einwanderung.pdf; [05.02.19]
  2. https://www.zeit.de/politik/2015-11/migration-fluechtlinge-deutschland-europa/komplettansicht
  3. UNO Flüchtlingshilfe (2015): Syrien: 7 Gründe für die Flucht nach Europa, [online]https://www.uno-fluechtlingshilfe.de/news/syrien-7-gruende-fuer-die-flucht-nach-europa-394/; [25.02.19]