In official letters to asylum seekers already recognised in Greece, the German Federal Office for Migration states that their second application in Germany will probably be rejected. The communication is dubious for various reasons.
The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is currently sending out letters to asylum seekers who were previously recognised as refugees in Greece. They ask the refugees to register for an alleged support programme in Greece, as the platform ‘Frag den Staat’ documented last week. The letters promise to pick them up at a Greek airport, accommodation with full board for up to four months in the country, counselling, language courses and labour market support.
Some of the letters are sent by postal delivery like deportation notices and contain a QR code for an online questionnaire which, according to the BAMF, should be completed within a week – although it is not clear that this is voluntary, reports the human rights organisation Pro Asyl.
What is particularly problematic is that the letters are not only sent to people who are obliged to leave the country, but also to people in ongoing asylum procedures – including people in need of protection such as single mothers. They are told that their application in Germany will ‘in all likelihood’ be rejected. This is causing panic among asylum seekers, explains Pro Asyl.
The fact that refugees apply elsewhere despite being recognised as asylum seekers in Greece is due to the social system there. Recognised refugees in Greece are often left destitute on the streets without access to social benefits. In 2024, 25,112 people who were previously recognised in Greece applied for asylum in Germany. This practice is known as secondary migration.
Until now, deportations to Greece were considered to be contrary to human rights and were also prohibited by the courts. However, two judgements by the Hessian Administrative Court in August 2024 state that young, healthy, single men can be transferred there against their will. They could keep their heads above water through irregular jobs in the ‘shadow economy’, according to the reasoning.
Both judgements will be heard on appeal on 16 April 2025. However, the BAMF has already radically changed its practice: While the federal authority only rejected 3.6 per cent of asylum seekers with Greek recognition in the first half of 2024, from July to October 2024, 87.1 per cent suddenly received a deportation notice.
The questionable BAMF letter advertises a programme called Helios+, which has been in place in Greece since 6 February 2025. In the existing predecessor programme, recognised asylum seekers were able to receive courses, labour market support and, under certain conditions, rent subsidies – if they found accommodation on their own. However, Helios+ can only support around 1000 people per year. In view of the more than 40,000 people who received protection in Greece in 2024 alone, according to Pro Asyl, this is insufficient.
In response to questions from ‘Frag den Staat’, the BAMF and the Federal Ministry of the Interior also confirmed that there are no German agreements on Helios+ with Greek authorities or the International Organisation for Migration, which is supposed to implement the programme in Greece.
According to an unpublished internal BAMF letter, however, there is to be an as yet unknown ‘bridging programme’, financed by the EU in the first year and then by Greece. The target group would be ‘single people between the ages of 19 and 49 who were granted protection no more than two years ago’. In the few known cases in which asylum seekers in Germany have filled out a form to participate in the ‘bridging programme’, the BAMF has stated without explanation that they ‘do not meet the requirements’.
‘Is it all just a big bluff?’ asks Pro Asyl. However, it is clear that in view of the extremely limited capacities of Helios+, the ‘bridging programme’ mentioned by the BAMF will only be able to offer little support.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: Refugees in Patras, Greece (Alexandra Menschick).
