On February 23, 2025, the early . The is currently in full swing. In the streets, on TV, and on social media, there’s a lot of political discussion going on, especially about . But some of what is said does not correspond to the facts.
DW took a closer look at two such statements on X, formerly known as Twitter.
More than 300,000 people need to be deported
Claim: “Almost 900,000 rejected asylum seekers currently live in Germany, 304,000 of whom are legally required to leave — and yet still receive support. In case you’re wondering what Germany spends money on…”
This claimby Joana Cotar was viewed 255,000 times. Cotaris an independent member of the German parliament. She used to be a member of the far-right , which she left in 2022.
DW Fact check: Misleading.
There are indeed almost 900,000 rejected asylum seekers living in Germany. The figure Joana Cotar quotes for rejected seekers who are obliged to leave the country, however, is too high.
There are 202,880 people in Germany who are required to leave the country (as of December 31, 2024). This was confirmed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior at the request of Deutsche Welle. “Required to leave” includes rejected asylum seekers, for example, but also people whose visas have expired.
The total number of rejected asylum seekers among those required to leave the country was 128,355 as of June 30, 2024, not 304,000 as claimed in the above X post. This information was provided by the Federal Government at the request of several MPs (on page 23 of this document).
Not everyone who is required to leave the country can actually be deported under German law. According to federal government figures, the majority — around 86% — of those required to leave the country are currently in Germany on a tolerated stay, a so-called “Duldung.” People with a Duldunghave a special status and cannot usually be deported because, for example, they do not have exit documents, are in school or university, or have medical conditions. The instrument of toleration is enshrined in the Residence Act.
The number of rejected asylum seekers without toleration who are required to leave the country and could be deported immediately is around 17,583 (as of June 30, 2024). They belong to the so-called “immediately required to leave” group.
Only 0.5% of Syrians living in Germany are entitled to asylum
Claim: “Only 0.5 % of #Syrians entitled to asylum: Deport bogus refugees consistently! New figures refute the fairytale of the established parties, according to which allegedly only ‘refugees’ from Syria have come to us. #AfD”
This Xpost was published on the official account of the AfD. The attached report on the party’s website claims German Interior Minister (SPD) said that out of 974,136 Syrians living in Germany, only 5,090 are entitled to asylum.
DW Fact check: Misleading.
It is correct that just over 5,000 Syrians have been granted full asylum status in Germany. That is in fact around 0.5% of the almost 975,000 Syrian nationals living in Germany according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior (as of October 31, 2024).
What the post omits, however, and what makes it misleading, is that the status of Syrians in Germany is complex. Hundreds of thousands have been granted protection in various categories.
Sophie Meiners, a researcher at the German Council on Foreign Relations, told DW: “This statement is false and misleading because it fails to recognize that the right to asylum is only a small proportion of the protection options available in Germany. is one of the countries with the highest protection rate.”
According to the Federal Statistical Office,almost 88% of Syrian asylum seekers had recognized protection status at the end of 2023.
There are four types of protection in Germany: protection under asylum law, protection, subsidiary protection and a ban on deportation, explained Lena Tress, spokesperson for the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, in response to a written inquiry by DW.
“Most asylum seekers from Syria enjoy subsidiary protection,” Tress wrote.
Accordingto the Federal Ministry of the Interior, this includes more than 330,000 Syrians (as of October 31, 2024).
Subsidiary protection means that people have neither refugee protection nor a right to asylum, but they were previously threatened with serious harm in their home country. This includes, for example, people facing the or torture, or people threatened by arbitrary violence in an armed conflict.
Under the regime of , people in Syria were exposed to threats such as torture, inhumane treatment and even the death penalty, leaving many with no choice but to flee. Since the fall of Assad at the end of 2024, there has been a debate in about how to deal with Syrian refugees, a key issue for several parties running in Germany’s election this February.
It is still unclear how Syria’s new rulers intend to govern the country in the future. But a new plan by Faeser proposes that some Syrian refugees may be required to return home under certain conditions.
This article was originally written in German.
Dr. Ruba Khouzam, Daniel Ebertz and Björn Kietzmann contributed to this fact check.
Edited by: Rachel Baig, Uta Steinwehr
The post Fact check: Deportation misinformation ahead of German elections appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
