Writing in an editorial in Die Welt, the political editor Marcel Leubecher this week noted the increase in the number of migrants reaching Italy from across the Mediterranean as well as those crossing the Aegean sea into Greece.
“Contrary to popular belief, the majority of those arriving in Italy are not refugees. The main countries of origin for boat migrants in January were Algeria, Ivory Coast, and Bangladesh,” Leubecher said. Moreover, Libyans who are in the middle of a conflict, are not interested in joining the EU.
Some 95 percent of the asylum applications from these peaceful countries are thus rejected. And even though they are unable to claim asylum or refugee status, a high number remain in Europe, despite orders to deport them.
In 2018, the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) admitted that only a small fraction of failed African asylum seekers have actually been deported from the country and most will never be deported at all.
Of those deported, many simply return to Europe. A total of 28 283 migrants are known to have returned to Germany since 2012 after being deported, with at least 5 000 returning on multiple occasions.
