Thousands of asylum seekers living in Germany have
already been deported or voluntarily left the country before coming
back and reapplying, according to a report from the Welt am Sonntag
newspaper.
As of October 30, 2019, there were 4,916 asylum seekers in Germany
who had already entered the country twice since 2012, and then were
either deported or left voluntarily, and then came back again and
applied a third time, the newspaper wrote, citing data from the
German government.
There are 1,023 asylum seekers living in the country who are on their
fourth attempt. A total of 294 have applied five or more times.
The numbers make up only a small proportion of those who have applied
for asylum in Germany.
According to Germany's Federal Statistical
Office, 1.78 million people came to Germany seeking refuge between
2010 and 2018.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has called for European
asylum reforms, including setting up a procedure to carry out an
initial examination of migrants' requests for protection before they
enter Europe.
He announced the tightening-up of border controls by Berlin several
weeks ago, in response to the controversial re-entry of the leading
member of the Lebanese Miri clan to Germany.
Ibrahim Miri had been deported to Lebanon in July after being
sentenced for gangland drug offences, but reappeared in the northern
port city of Bremen at the end of October.
He was deported again in late October.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has called for European asylum reforms, including setting up a procedure to carry out an initial examination of migrants' requests for protection before they enter Europe.