The number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany is declining, and asylum accommodation capacities are also being reduced in Bavaria. However, the systematic border controls ordered by the Federal Minister of the Interior are not the sole reason for this development. Arrivals had already been decreasing beforehand, and the decline is not limited to Germany but can be observed across Europe.
Looking at the main countries of origin, Prof. Dr Petra Bendel argues in two contributions for ARD and Bayerischer Rundfunk that political developments in these countries are a key factor behind the decrease. At the same time, migration routes are shifting: smuggling networks adapt by using alternative routes, while EU partner countries such as Tunisia and the Western Balkan states influence and redirect migration routes through increased pressure.
Bendel argues that the current easing of pressure gives municipalities greater scope to consider new forms of accommodation, for example within the project Mehr als vier Wände (“More Than Four Walls”), run by FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and the University of Hildesheim:
Find a selection of media reports here:
- BR24, 16.07.2026: Wann hören die Grenzkontrollen auf?
- BR24, 03.08.2026: Bayern baut 42.000 Plätze in Asylunterkünften ab
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