For years Germany has been facing a growing crisis, trying to fill hundreds of thousands of jobs with a dwindling population. Now it is turning to migrants and those still living abroad to try and fill positions and keep society moving.
There have been riots in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as part of a protest against plans for asylum accommodation.
According to a spokesperson from Germany’s interior ministry, 12,945 migrants were returned from Germany during the course of 2022, a slight increase on the previous year.
A shortage in accommodation across Germany is pushing some local authorities to set up temporary housing for migrants in school gymnasiums or industrial parks. Some officials have also called on the government to limit the influx of migrants.
The European Commission has presented a new strategy to increase the return of irregular migrants. EU member states were called on to work closer together as well as collaborate with EU authorities like Frontex.
Police, including special operation forces, have raided asylum shelters and private dwellings in southwestern Germany after an investigation lasting several months.
A case against search and rescue volunteers Sarah Mardini and Sean Binder in Greece has been shelved for now. But hundreds more people across Europe still face charges such as migrant smuggling, despite growing calls to end the criminalization of humanitarian assistance.
The German Bundestag recognized the massacre of Yazidis by jihadists from the so-called Islamic State in Iraq as "genocide."
The number of cases of church asylum has been on the rise in Berlin in recent months. The German capital has a long history of hosting people seeking protection in churches.
Debate continues over immigration and integration following New Year's Eve riots in Germany. A researcher has warned that media focus on the ethnic origin of perpetrators of crimes creates a false picture of migrants.
According to Germany's biggest tabloid newspaper Bild Zeitung, in 2022 Germany tried to send back over 68,000 migrants to other EU countries under rules governed by the Dublin accords. The majority of those attempts failed.
The number of asylum applications in Germany has risen significantly in the past year. In addition to around one millions Ukrainians seeking protection, almost a quarter of a million people from elsewhere submitted asylum applications in Germany in 2022.