Number of Azeri asylum seekers in Germany increase threefold 

4750 Azerbaijan citizens requested asylum in Germany in 2016. This index had increased three times compared with 2015.

Out of 4750 applications submitted in 2016, only 2722 had been processed, of which only 459 had been approved – around 10 % of the total number of asylum seeking Azeris.  63% Had been rejected on the grounds of there not being sufficient reason. Some were sent on to a third country whereas the remaining ones are in the process of being reviewed. The ANN.Az portal provides this information, referring to the data of the Federal Administration for the Migration and Refugee Affairs in Germany.

1497 Citizens of Azerbaijan requested asylum in 2015. Only 71 applications had been approved.

According to the director of the Centre for Rights Protection of Azerbaijan, Eldar Zeinalov, the majority of asylum seekers justify their request by claiming political persecution in their native country. Germany has other programs for the repatriation of ethnic Germans and migration/settling of Jews in order to reunite families and other humanitarian programs. These categories of people do not fall within the scope of common procedure.

Zeinalov adds that in recent years, some law enforcement officials have been abusing the increased desire of Azeris to migrate to Europe. He told a JAMnews correspondent that there were reported cases of some colleagues who were being tried for fraud. He had been (unsuccessfully) personally  approached several times with the request to issue such a document. According to the applicants, the referral given by a law enforcement official is more effective at European migration services, than papers which are provided by political parties.