Lower Percentage of Refugees from Safe Countries - Hesse Sees Fewer Asylum Seekers but Longer Stays in Reception Centres
The number of asylum seekers arriving in Hesse from so-called safe countries of origin has stayed consistently low over the past three years. New figures also reveal a sharp rise in how long applicants remain in initial reception centres.
The data highlights changes in processing times and overall application trends across Germany. Germany classifies ten nations as safe countries of origin. These include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Ghana, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Senegal, and Serbia. Under German law, a safe country is defined as one where state persecution is unlikely and where authorities can protect against non-state threats.
In Hesse, no single safe country accounted for even one percent of all asylum applicants during the period reviewed. Despite this, the average stay in initial reception facilities has grown significantly. Syrians, for example, now remain for an average of 197 days—up from 66 days in 2023. Turkish applicants saw an even steeper increase, from 63 to 226 days.
By law, stays in these centres should not exceed 18 months, except in exceptional cases. Meanwhile, the total number of asylum applications in Germany fell from nearly 15,000 in 2023 to just under 8,000 last year. The latest figures show a clear drop in overall asylum applications, alongside longer processing times for those already in the system. While safe-country applicants remain a small fraction of the total, their stays in reception facilities have stretched considerably. This shift reflects broader changes in how Germany manages asylum procedures.
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