Germany's 2015 welcoming response—captured by the phrase "We can do it."—coincided with hundreds of thousands arriving, many from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Initial arrivals were met with a wave of solidarity and willingness to help, but a decade later public sentiment shifted toward skepticism and rejection. In 2015–2016, 1.2 million people applied for asylum; numbers fell afterwards. Germany approved 56% of asylum applications on average at first instance, resulting in 1.5 million people granted the right to remain. German law enshrines a legal right to asylum and about 3.5 million people seeking protection live in Germany today.
When then-Chancellor Angela Merkel of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) spoke these words in the European summer of 2015, hundreds of thousands of people were on their way to Germany. Many came from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. They were received with a wave of solidarity and willingness to help. But 10 years later the mood in Germany has changed: skepticism and rejection prevail. Immigration has become an emotionally loaded topic.
In the years 2015 and 2016 combined, 1.2 million people came to Germany and applied for asylum. In the following years the number of asylum-seekers significantly reduced. No other country in the European Union (EU) has taken in as many people seeking refuge. However, an application for asylum does not automatically mean that every person was recognized as a refugee and received permission to remain in the country.
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