Return to Greece: Federal Office suggests refugees departure

The Federal Government has considered a new strategy to persuade asylum seekers who are already recognized in Greece as refugees to return there. As a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior announced, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees will now send information letters to people with protection status in Greece who are either in the asylum procedure in Germany or whose application in Germany was declared inadmissible or unfounded and which is therefore “compelled to come” are.

With the letter, you would be informed about the possibility of a voluntary return to Greece and support services there. The “Spiegel” first reported on the efforts of the German authorities.

In the first few months after their return to Greece, refugees should receive accommodation, meals and social counseling. In addition, a recording of the returnees is being prepared in a Greek integration program, the spokesman said. This program includes support for learning to Greek and looking for a job.

In the first ten months of 2024, at least 21,10 people in Germany submitted an asylum application, which had already been awarded a protection status in Greece. The Gelsenkirchen administrative court had decided in August that a return there was unreasonable for refugees. In view of the “considerable bureaucratic hurdles and lack of state support, it is still fundamentally to be assumed that beneficiaries in Greece are not able to find secure accommodation and to ensure their livelihood through legal employment or state support”.

However, the Greek economy had recently developed positively. The unemployment rate is still relatively high in the EU comparison, but was recently just below ten percent and thus significantly lower than three years ago.