The refugees arriving on the Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean want to enter the European Union, but most of them do not want to stay in Italy. The right-wing government in Rome makes little effort to stop them: Most migrants can continue northwards without registering. In response to a dramatic increase in refugee numbers, France has announced it will increase its police presence along the French-Italian border. Germany is carrying out random checks at its southern border with Austria, but Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has rejected tightening border controls.

Under current EU asylum law, application procedures must be filed in the state where the asylum-seeker first sets foot on EU soil. Those who move on to another member state without permission can be returned to the state where they first entered the bloc. This year, Italy has refused to comply with this regulation, and in return Germany now refuses to take in refugees under the voluntary admissions agreed within the EU.

According to the European Asylum Agency, one-third of all asylum applications filed in the EU, Norway and Switzerland are filed in Germany. Local councils have been sounding the alarm, saying they cannot provide enough housing and integration for everyone.

According to the Federal Interior Ministry, around 1.1 million Ukrainian war refugees were registered in Germany up to August 2023. In addition, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees has received over 200,000 asylum applications from other countries this year. That is 77% more than in the same period last year. Some 70% of the applicants are male.