The number of North Africans reaching Germany has plummeted since January, according to government figures.
New arrivals from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria were but 480 in March, compared to 3,356 in January.
Germany has not rushed into a decision to declare these three countries as “safe countries of origin” which means asylum applications would be denied, but the Federal Office of Migration and Refugees concludes that public discussion about introducing such a law let to a tangible reduction in new arrivals.
During all of last year, just over 26,000 North African migrants entered Germany. However, only 2% of these were granted asylum, the lowest rate of any country or region.
In the first quarter of this year, even fewer - a mere 0.7% - of applications were approved.
“In practice, [the new law] will lead to a minimisation of the number of unjustified asylum applications from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia,” the report suggests.
It also said that “two-thirds of cases [involving North Africans] are obviously unfounded”.
Germany has found it difficult to repatriate many of the failed asylum seekers as a number of countries of origin have refused to accept their nationals citing lack of proper documentation. Some migrants travel without identity papers in an attempt to pose as Syrian refugees.
