Germany is taking in fewer refugees, according to the latest figures, but the government expects a new migrant influx from the Mediterranean.
Around 20,608 asylum seekers were registered in March, compared to 61,428 in February and more than 90,000 in January, according to government figures.
The latest numbers were presented by the German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière and Germany’s Federal Agency of Migration and Refugees (BAMF) chief Frank-Jürgen Weise on Friday.
“The decline [of arrivals] is due to the closure of the Balkan route,” de Maizière said, adding that Germany’s dispute with Austria and the Balkan countries over the national border closures is now over.
But the interior minister warned that migrants could switch to an alternative route and try to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy, boosting the number of arrivals. He also said Germany is watching closely the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal in that regard. It is “too early to make a forecast for the year,” de Maizière said.
The interior minister also said the Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Gerd Müller’s estimate of 200,000 migrants waiting in Libya to cross to Europe is “too low.”
There are many more people in sub-Saharan Africa who are thinking of coming to Europe, de Maizière said. He added: “Migration pressure remains high.”
Under the EU-Turkey deal, all migrants arriving to Greece after March 20 will be sent back to Turkey and one Syrian refugee will be resettled for each Syrian returned, up to a ceiling of 72,000.
The first group of 202 migrants was sent to Turkey from the islands of Lesbos and Chios on Monday.