Germany’s Asylum Lawsuits Hit Record High in 2025
Asylum court cases in Germany hit record highs in 2025, while refugee arrivals sharply decline.
Germany is witnessing a sharp rise in asylum-related court cases even as the influx of new refugees slows significantly. A recent analysis by the Deutsche Richterzeitung (German Judges’ Journal) found that 76,646 new asylum lawsuits were filed in German administrative courts between January and June 2025 – more than the total for all of 2023 bergstraesser-anzeiger.de. For context, there were about 71,885 cases in all of 2023, and 100,494 cases in 2024, indicating the current year is on track to set a new record bergstraesser-anzeiger.de.
This surge comes despite a decline in new asylum applications. In the first half of 2025, roughly 61,336 people applied for asylum in Germany for the first time, almost 50% fewer than in the same period the year before bergstraesser-anzeiger.de. The contradictory trend – fewer asylum seekers but more court cases – can be explained by processing dynamics. Sven Rebehn, Managing Director of the German Judges Association, notes that the drop in asylum applications has not yet eased the burden on courts. In fact, the number of asylum lawsuits jumped in early 2025 because the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has sped up its processing of asylum claims, issuing decisions more quickly bergstraesser-anzeiger.de. A faster decision process at the administrative level means more rejected applicants are turning to the courts in a shorter span of time, creating a bottleneck in the judiciary.
Justice System Strains and Regional Disparities
Court officials warn that the wave of new cases is stalling efforts to expedite hearings and rulings. The growing caseload has slowed down recent improvements in processing times for asylum appeals. “Rheinland-Pfalz is still the only federal state that meets the target – announced by state leaders in 2023 – of concluding asylum lawsuits within six months,” Rebehn pointed out lomazoma.com. In other words, most German states are unable to resolve asylum court cases within the six-month benchmark, highlighting an uneven performance across the country.
Some states are facing far heavier loads than others. North Rhine-Westphalia saw the highest number of new asylum cases in the first half of 2025, with 13,304 filings (out of about 19,267 for the entire year 2024) bergstraesser-anzeiger.de. Bavaria recorded 11,412 cases in the same period bergstraesser-anzeiger.de. The sharpest jump was in Lower Saxony, where courts received roughly 11,000 new asylum lawsuits by mid-2025 – exceeding the state’s total for all of 2024 bergstraesser-anzeiger.de. This regional disparity means some court systems, especially in states with high case volumes, are under intense pressure, leading to longer waits for hearings and judgments. In fact, recent data show that overburdened courts have pushed average processing times to well over a year in some regions, whereas the quickest state (Rhineland-Pfalz) still averages about six months per case lomazoma.com.
Officials indicate that hiring extra personnel and creating specialized asylum law chambers have helped somewhat, but current measures are “still not sufficient to get ahead of the wave” of cases, Rebehn said in his assessment zeit.de. There is concern that unless the influx of court cases slows or additional resources are allocated, backlogs could grow, undermining the timely delivery of justice in asylum matters.
European Trends: Fewer Syrian Refugees, Changing Migration Patterns
The trend of declining asylum applications is not unique to Germany – it’s reflected across Europe. According to the EU Asylum Agency, approximately 400,000 asylum applications were submitted in EU countries (plus Norway and Switzerland) in the first six months of 2025, a 23% drop compared to the first half of 2024 zeit.de. Notably, Syrians are no longer the largest group of new asylum seekers. For the first time in a decade, applicants from Venezuela (around 49,000 in the first half of 2025) outnumbered those from Syria (about 25,000) across Europe zeit.de. EU officials attribute the overall decline in asylum numbers in part to major changes in Syria’s political situation after the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in late 2024 zeit.de. With the conflict in Syria easing, fewer people are fleeing that country now, while more are leaving other trouble spots like Venezuela zeit.de.
Germany, which for years was the primary destination for Syrian refugees in Europe, is no longer the top recipient of asylum seekers. In the first half of 2025, France and Spain each received slightly more new asylum applications than Germany (which registered around 70,000) zeit.de. This marks a significant shift in migration patterns, suggesting that stricter border controls and new geopolitical developments (such as Syria’s changed circumstances) are impacting where people seek refuge zeit.de.
Calls for Syrian Refugees to Return Home Voluntarily
Against this backdrop, German policymakers are debating how to handle the large Syrian refugee population that arrived during the civil war years. The current governing coalition – led by the conservative CDU/CSU and Social Democrats (a so-called “black-red” coalition) – has adopted a more restrictive course in migration policy, which includes creating incentives for refugees to return voluntarily to their home countries lomazoma.com. In recent weeks, several politicians from the center-right CDU have called for additional measures to encourage Syrian refugees to go back home lomazoma.com. The rationale, they say, is that with the end of Assad’s rule, conditions in Syria are expected to gradually improve, yet relatively few Syrians in Germany have chosen to return so far lomazoma.com.
Marc Henrichmann, a CDU lawmaker and chairman of the Bundestag’s parliamentary oversight panel for the intelligence services, told Bild newspaper that “the financial incentive to stay here must not be greater than the interest in taking part in rebuilding the country.” Remaining in Germany, he argued, “should not be a decision driven by economics” lomazoma.com. Henrichmann and others suggest that Germany’s social benefits and living standards could be inadvertently discouraging refugees from leaving, so they propose adjusting support levels to make returning to Syria comparatively more attractive lomazoma.com. According to the Federal Interior Ministry, only 1,867 Syrian nationals left Germany for Syria with federal support in the first eight months of 2025, indicating that voluntary return programs have had limited uptake so far lomazoma.com. “We need to help stabilize conditions on the ground [in Syria] and cooperate on security issues,” Henrichmann said, adding that the number of returnees must rise and that officials “must be able to tell people in good conscience: you can go back” lomazoma.com.
Alexander Throm, the CDU’s spokesperson on domestic (internal) affairs, voices a similar viewpoint. “Clearly, the original reason for fleeing – the Assad regime’s reign of terror – has disappeared,” Throm said, referring to the ouster of Syria’s long-time ruler lomazoma.com. It is therefore reasonable to expect that Syrian citizens will return to their homeland to participate in rebuilding, he contended. Throm noted this should especially apply to those who arrived only a short time ago or those who, even after many years in Germany, have not integrated into society lomazoma.com. In the eyes of these politicians, encouraging returns not only helps Syria’s reconstruction but could also ease Germany’s migration pressures in the long run. Opposition voices and refugee advocacy groups, however, have cautioned that Syria’s situation remains unstable and dangerous in parts of the country, arguing that forcing or hastening returns could put lives at risk – a point underscored by humanitarian assessments on the ground.
Difficult Realities for Potential Returnees in Syria
Humanitarian organizations emphasize that despite the formal end of hostilities in Syria’s civil war, conditions on the ground remain challenging for returnees. “Many Syrian families are hesitant and face a difficult decision about returning,” explains Janine Lietmeyer, a board member of World Vision Germany who has been monitoring the situation migazin.de. Since Syrian president Bashar al-Assad left power on December 8, 2024, the majority of Syrians who have returned to their country were those who had been sheltering in neighboring countries – such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq – rather than those who traveled farther to Europe migazin.de. Refugees who built new lives in Germany or elsewhere often have stronger reservations. “Families in particular struggle with this decision,” Lietmeyer reports migazin.de.
Lietmeyer, who visited Syria in August 2025, observes that conditions vary greatly by region. “The relative normality in downtown Damascus stands in stark contrast to the major problems in other parts of the country,” she said migazin.de. While the capital’s center shows signs of daily life resuming, many areas that were former conflict zones remain devastated and lack basic services. These hardships make it difficult for returnees to regain a foothold in their former hometowns migazin.de. Apart from lingering security concerns in some regions, those contemplating return have fundamental practical questions: “Is there a functioning school [for our children]? How many hours a day will I have electricity? Is there even any housing available?” Lietmeyer recounts migazin.de. In several former rebel strongholds, virtually all houses are destroyed, she notes, and unexploded ordnance still poses deadly risks in those areas migazin.de. Until infrastructure is rebuilt and safety can be assured, large-scale returns of Syrian refugees from Europe seem unlikely, as many lack confidence that they can restart their lives back home without basic necessities like power, education, and secure shelter.
Sources: German Judges’ Journal analysis via RND and dpa bergstraesser-anzeiger.de; Statements by Sven Rebehn (German Judges Association) bergstraesser-anzeiger.de lomazoma.com; Federal Office for Migration and Refugees data bergstraesser-anzeiger.de; EU Asylum Agency data zeit.de; Comments by CDU politicians Marc Henrichmann and Alexander Throm reported in Bild lomazoma.com; German Interior Ministry figures lomazoma.com; World Vision Germany observations by Janine Lietmeyer and DPA reports on Syria migazin.de.