INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
More people will have sought refuge in Germany in 2022 than at the height of the European migrant crisis, Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported
Sunday.The newspaper said the country is on course to see 1.2 million new arrivals this year — a 35% increase from 2015 when 890,000
migrants and refugees, mainly fleeing the Syrian war, came to the country.This year&s tally was calculated from the more than a million
Ukrainian refugees welcomed in Germany since Russia&s invasion unfolded in February and an expected 200,000 asylum seekers by the end of the
year.By the end of October, some 181,612 asylum applications were recorded, Welt am Sonntag reported, mostly from Syrian, Afghan, Turkish
and Iraqi nationals.Municipalities face resource squeezeGerman municipalities are reported to have reached their limit in processing such a
large number of new arrivals, sparking concern from politicians like Armin Schuster, the interior minister for the eastern state of
Saxony.We are approaching 200,000 asylum seekers this year
In the last legislature, this number was defined as the upper limit,& Schuster told the paper
While he said his state continues to &stand up for Ukraine, no ifs or buts,& any free capacity will soon be exhausted.German MEP Manfred
Weber warned of a &dramatic winter of refuge,& referring to an expected increase in migrant and refugee arrivals during the winter
months.Some analysts have warned that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians could flee the country as Russian forces continue to target the
country&s energy infrastructure, sparking widespread power cuts during the winter cold.Germany is currently sleepwalking into a new
migration crisis,& Weber warned, noting a similar pressure on authorities in the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria.Last month, the EU refugee
agency said asylum applications had reached a new post-2015 high.The government said it was supporting states and municipalities with €3.5
billion ($3.69 billion) this year, with another €2.75 billion earmarked for 2023, and has provided more than 67,000 spaces for
accommodation.Schuster said Germany&s migration policy needed more than just &warm words& and called for &a noticeable braking effect on
asylum access via the East Mediterranean route,& referring to how many migrants arrive in EU territory via Turkey and Greece.The post
Migration to Germany to hit 1.2 million in 2022: report first appeared on Ariana News.
