Roughly one third of all rejected asylum applications in Germany succeed when launching an appeal against the original decision after their appeal is examined by administrative courts. This can cost taxpayers in Germany up to 25 million euros annually.
One in three negative asylum decisions handed down by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) end up being revised after initial court appeals, resulting in considerable costs for the BAMF. The government agency incurs an average amount of €925,23 per lost asylum case at the first appeals level.
Examining the scale of successful appeals, this adds up to a substantial sum: Looking at the past five years alone, the total costs incurred for such lost asylum cases has been varying annually between €16 and 25 million, averaging at about €17 million from taxpayers' pockets.
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Expensive court cases
With more asylum cases being lodged following the end to many COVID-19 related restrictions on movement, there might be even greater legal fees on the horizon for BAMF to pay:
Recently, the total costs have been on the rise despite a decline in the number of cases that are taken to court. By April 20, BAMF had already incurred court fees of €5.9 million. If that trend continues for the rest of the year, the overall costs could reach the mark of €19 million of more.
Last year, BAMF had to pay almost €17 million in total because of such lost asylum court cases, amounting to a 4% increase compared to 2020.
Refugees from Afghanistan in particular tend to be successful with their appeals in court, since the country was taken over by the Islamist Taliban group last August.
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With KNA