8,263 departures: Millions in funding for migrant returns!

8,263 departures: Millions in funding for migrant returns!

The cash registers are ringing in Germany! Since the beginning of the year, a whopping 8,263 people have left the Federal Republic with their asylum applications rejected - and all at state expense! Thanks to a special federal and state funding program that ran until the end of October, this departure was made easier and also financially supported. The program, known as REAG/GARP, offers poor migrants financial help to make their journey home.

The impressive total sum for this large-scale departure program is a whopping more than 8.2 million euros! That sounds like a lot of money – and it is! But that's not all: the exact cost contribution of the federal and state governments remains a mystery, as under certain conditions the EU assumes the brunt of the departure costs. In this case, the federal and state governments only have to cover five percent of the costs - a bargain compared to the expensive deportations!

Flood of applications increases waiting times!

However, there is a small catch: processing the applications takes a long time. Due to the high number of requests, there are currently considerable waiting times. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees makes it known that there is no legal right to this funding. In the current year, almost 8,460 applications have already been approved, according to a response to a request from the Left in the Bundestag. This number even exceeds that of last year - so voluntary return seems to be on trend!