Taking refuge in Europe

One out of five refugees reaches Europe, the United States or any other developed country. In contrast to the overall increase of refugees driven by civil war, ethnic strife or political oppression, the number of asylum claims in European countries is decreasing. The reason for this is: European Union countries have become more sophisticated in finding new legal justifications to refer asylum seekers to other countries instead of dealing with the migrants themselves.

When people apply for asylum in Germany for example, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees will check whether they entered Europe in another country or even applied for asylum elsewhere.

If so, German authorities can refer asylum seekers to the country where they initially entered Europe. If not, German immigration officials attempt to send the asylum seekers back to other "safe countries" they travelled through on the way to Europe. Definitions of what constitute "safe countries" vary from one EU member state to the other. Germany defines far fewer countries in the world to be "safe" than, for example, France or Great Britain do.

Asylum seekers must demonstrate that their fear of persecution in the home country is well-founded, if possible by providing solid evidence. In Germany, usually several months pass until an asylum claim is decided. At least for the first weeks, the asylum seekers live in a special accommodation. Food, clothes and other basic needs are met. But only some 40 euros are given in cash, for example, for telephone calls or public transportation.

Across Europe, asylum seekers have to observe strict working regulations: In Germany, they are not allowed to get a job at all during the first 12 months, and after that only by special permission.