Sabrina Juran|P. Niclas Broer
A Profile of Germany's Refugee Populations
result war syria well humanitarian crises poverty social deprivation africa elsewhere european union countries experienced high inflows asylumseekers refugees migrants1 civil unrest armed conflict generate vital complex needs health living conditions incoming population vary greatly based origin geographic location underlying medical nutritional status events caused initial relocation2 years spent conflict zone transit may leave affected populations gaps education malnutrition unaddressed health concerns3 order provide adequate protection plan integration host governments societies need information characteristics conditions population entering country case germany systematic detailed sociodemographic economic data asylumseekers refugees entering living country limited available long time lag article brings together different data sources describe current characteristics refugees germany inform future decisionmaking policy formulation 2015 995000 firsttime asylum applications submitted countries european union twice number 2014 germany become primary country destination europe asylumseekers4 almost 175000 applicants germany 61 percent firsttime asylum applicants recorded eu member states registered germany first quarter 2016 italy ranked second 22300 applicants 8 percent eu total followed france 18000 6 percent austria 13900 5 percent united kingdom 10100 4 percent together five countries account 83 percent applicants eu5 6 current asylum applications germany represent historic high figure 1 asylum applications reached similar levels early 1990s response war former yugoslavia 2008 number declined sharply since increased steadily 476000 people filing claim asylum 20157 asylum applications germany 19532015 thousands source bundesamt fr migration und flchtlinge 2016 das bundesamt zahlen 2015 asyl nrnberg germany part dublin area comprising eu member states well norway iceland switzerland liechtenstein dublin regulations determine european state responsible asylum claim seek ensure application entered dublin area processed one state 2015 german office migration refugees along offices ministries european states suspended dublin regulations asylumseekers syria primarily accelerate asylum process based humanitarian grounds8 asylum procedures germany distinguish two kinds applications initial application created foreign national applies asylum first time subsequent application filed withdrawal incontestable rejection previously submitted asylum application another application recorded9 course 2015 peak firsttime asylum applications seen november 58000 applications recorded figure 2 firsttime subsequent asylum applications germany month 2015 thousands source bundesamt fr migration und flchtlinge 2016 das bundesamt zahlen 2015 asyl nrnberg time number deportations increased significantly since 2013 levels comparable decade earlier figure 3 germany recorded 20000 deportations 2015 actual number deportations represents less 10 percent number asylumseekers living temporarily germany legally required leave 220000 people required leave however 172000 officially tolerated geduldet owing factors illness lack papers prevents home country accepting return10 annual number deportations 20002015 thousands source endnote 6 2015 syrians represented largest group firsttime asylum applicants european union syrians applied asylum eu first quarter 2016 almost 90 percent registered germany 88500 102400 followed 73 percent iraqis 57 percent afghans syria also ranked first among principal countries origin asylumseekers followed albania kosovo figure 4 throughout year number asylum applications submitted syrian nationals increased month proportion asylumseekers coming ten principal countries origin accounted around 82 percent asylum applications filed germany 2015 compared 2014 largest increases applications albania 584 percent iraq 457 percent kosovo 384 percent syria 303 percent11 asylum applications top ten countries origin germany 2015 thousands asum asylumseekers without confirmed country origin note number initial claims asylum 2015 source bundesamt fr migration und flchtlinge 2016 das bundesamt zahlen 2015 asyl nrnberg 2015 around 11 million asylum applications recorded german registration system easy12 easy manages distribution asylumseekers throughout countrys 16 federal states distribution occurs asylumseeker must record intention apply asylum easy distribution system collects information receiving german federal state country origin asylumseeker demographic socioeconomic information collected point distribution quotas exist federal state distribution reception facility depends capacity facilities regional responsibilities branch federal office asylum claim falls knigstein key specifies percentage asylumseekers refugees federal state required accept quotas revised annual basis taking account changes total population tax receipts13 bavaria baden wrttemberg largest proportion asylumseekers 153 percent 130 percent respectively schleswigholstein thuringia rank lowest 34 percent 27 percent14 considering proportion asylum applications per 1000 native german citizens hand rankings change considerately asylum applicants germany account 05 percent total national population state mecklenburgwestern pomerania highest proportion asylum applications 118 asylum applications per 1000 inhabitants number represents 12 percent states total population saarland rankings second 102 applications per 1000 inhabitants 12 percent total state population followed berlin 96 applications per 1000 inhabitants 096 percent north rhinewestphalia 38 per 1000 lower saxony 44 per 1000 lowest application rates accounting less 04 percent 05 percent total federal population15 recent asylumseekers predominantly age range 1834 years figure 5 2015 71 percent applicants age 30 31 percent age 18 less one percent asylum applicants older age 54 two thirds 692 percent asylum applicants germany principal countries origin 2015 male proportion women countries submitted asylum applications ranges 73 percent pakistan 490 percent serbia16 distribution males females fairly even age 11 males majority age groups age 65 age group 65 years older proportion applications submitted females 534 percent exceed proportion submitted males sex age pyramid asylumseekers germany 2015 note number initial claims asylum 2015 source bundesamt fr migration und flchtlinge 2016 das bundesamt zahlen 2015 asyl nrnberg labor market integration refugees longterm process despite increasing rates employment among refugees longer duration stay germany took around 20 years earlier waves refugees attain employment rate national population women considerably greater difficulty men german labor market17 remains seen whether patterns hold recent refugees whether highly qualified refugees particular quickly find employment appropriate qualifications german administrative data educational attainment asylumseekers refugees incomplete asylumseekers asked voluntarily provide information highest level education federal office migration refugees recorded information 73 percent adults applied asylum 201518 among adults 18 percent universitylevel education 20 percent higher secondary education 22 percent recorded primary education highest level achieved 7 percent stated formal education majority refugees syria 54 percent least higher secondary education19 newly arriving asylumseekers refugees benefit integration courses including language remedial courses germany asylumseekers good prospects granted stay access courses figure 6 shows trends participation voluntary required integration courses offered german government increases number asylumseekers granted refugee status led rise number participants integration courses 283000 refugees eligible participate integration courses 2015 34 percent increase 2014 around 179000 refugees attended integration courses 2015 increase 26 percent 2014 refugees whose participation required immigration authorities accounted nearly 45 percent total20 voluntary required participation refugees integration courses 20052015 thousands source bundesamt fr migration und flchtlinge 2016 bericht zur integrationskursgeschftsstatistik fr das jahr 2015 nrnberg even basic germanlanguage skills expected significantly increase probability employment among asylumseekers refugees21 general integration courses including language skills widely attended courses 2015 participants 78 percent took part general integration course followed literacy courses 123 percent mens womens participation fairly even among general courses men make 59 percent students literacy courses syrian refugees account 192 percent course participants22 increase number asylumseekers refugees germany socioeconomic demographic effects23 despite initial costs meet needs population integrate educational system labor market oecd projects additional 05 percent growth gross domestic product gdp 2016 2017 resulting public spending24 time new arrivals expected contribute positively germanys economic performance increase labor supply boost demand goods services full realization economic benefits depend however extent refugees fully integrated german society one step toward achieving goal collection reliable statistics enable local national leaders identify meet needs new members german society