Last year saw a clear rise in refugees leaving Germany for their home countries with financial help from the government.
In 2025 a total of 16,576 asylum seekers used the opportunity provided by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) to receive a subsidy that covers travel costs when they voluntarily leave Germany. The BAMF spokeswoman told the Funke‑Media Group newspapers that 10,358 individuals left voluntarily in 2024, and the figure was very similar in 2023 at 10,762 people.
Since January 2025 the program has been reopened for subsidised exit to Syria, a destination that had been suspended because of the civil war. By the end of December, 5,976 applications for travel to Syria had been submitted to the BAMF, and 3,678 refugees had already departed. The large demand has led the office to report that processing times are currently longer than usual.
The “REAG‑GARP” (Repatriation of Asylum Seekers-German‑State Partnership) program finances voluntary return to a person’s country of origin or to a third country. The federal government typically pays for flight tickets, and also provides a “startup aid” of €1,000 per adult and €500 for children and young people. With regard to Syria, the BAMF spokesperson highlighted a “great interest” from the government, but noted that high application volumes are creating delays.
During 2025, 4,432 refugees used the REAG‑GARP scheme to travel to Turkey, while 1,334 went to Russia. Of the roughly 16,000 asylum seekers who left Germany voluntarily that year, 2,787 held a “limited residence permit”, 6,394 were marked as “obligatory to exit”, and 7,302 possessed a “residence allowance” – a temporary status that allows stay in Germany only while the asylum procedure is ongoing.
It should be noted that the BAMF does not statistically count those who return to their homeland either through state sponsorship programmes or on their own accord outside the federal scheme.
