47.4 percent of Turkish asylum seekers granted protection in Germany in 2019

Duvar English

Some 47.4 percent of the Turkish applicants who filed asylum claims in Germany in 2019 have been granted some form of protection, the daily newspaper Die Welt said, citing German government data. In 2016, on the other hand, only 8.2 percent of asylum applications from Turkey were accepted.

The number of Turks seeking asylum in Germany has been rising steadily since the failed coup attempt of July 2016 in Turkey.

Prior to 2016, Germany used to get 1,800 asylum applications from Turkish citizens per year on average, but this number rose to 5,742 in 2016, according to the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). This figure saw a gradual rise over the years, as it was 8,483 in 2017; 10,655 in 2018; and 11,423 in 2019.

After Syrian and Iraqi citizens, Turkish citizens lodged the highest number asylum applications in 2019.

Prior to 2016, some 80 percent of the applications came from Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin; whereas in 2019, over 50 percent of the applicants identified themselves just as “Turkish.” Accordingly, 74.6 percent of the asylum applications of “Turks” were accepted, whereas 14.5 percent of Turkish citizens who identified themselves as “Kurds” were given protection in 2019, according to Die Welt's report.

The report also said that among the applicants, there were several diplomats and civil servants from Turkey. Some 207 diplomatic or service passport holders applied to Germany for political asylum in 2019. Between 2016-2019, on the other hand, over 1,000 applicants holding such special passports have sought asylum in Germany, the report said.

According to the BAMF's data, Turkish applicants had a higher level of education compared to applicants of other countries. Some 59,3 percent of asylum seekers from Turkey in 2018 declared that they had previously attended a university in their home country.

Die Welt has cited a grim report on Turkey's human rights record as the reason for the increased asylum recognition rate for Turks. This 34-page-long report prepared by the German Foreign Ministry says “the [Turkish] state's actions to fight against terror and secure its national interests have reached a point where they are having a negative impact on basic human rights,” Die Welt has said. Such human rights reports, which are also prepared for other countries, are effective in the government's decisions regarding asylum cases.