A significant decrease in the recognition rate for asylum seekers has been observed in Germany during the first half of 2025. According to a report in the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”, citing a response from the federal government to a parliamentary inquiry by the Left party, the recognition rate fell to 26.5%, a considerable drop compared to the 59-72% range seen in the corresponding periods of the preceding four years.
This decline coincides with a sharp increase in legal challenges to asylum decisions. The report indicates that nearly 90,900 new asylum lawsuits were filed in the first six months of 2025, surpassing the total number of such lawsuits filed throughout the entirety of 2023.
Clara Bünger, the Left party’s spokesperson for asylum policy in the Bundestag, expressed concern that the figures substantiate criticism surrounding the concept of “safe countries of origin”. She warned that the accelerated procedures associated with this approach may lead to missed opportunities for identifying individuals in need of protection. Bünger also raised the possibility that the government’s efforts to expedite asylum processes could compromise the thoroughness of assessments.
While courts rendered approximately 52,000 asylum decisions in the first half of 2025, a faster pace than in previous years, nearly 9,000 individuals previously rejected by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) were granted protection status following legal appeals or renewed reviews by authorities.
Bünger highlighted a potential link between the current political climate and the practices of asylum authorities, noting that significantly higher recognition rates are frequently observed across the European Union. She emphasized the critical importance of effective legal recourse, stating that asylum law often deals with matters of life and death. Currently, Germany has over 172,000 asylum lawsuits still pending.
