The number of refugees and asylum-seekers living in Germany has fallen for the first time in nine years, according to newly released government figures. At the end of June, there were 1.77m refugees and asylum-seekers were living in Germany — 62,000 fewer than at the end of last year. They include 1.31m recognised refugees who have been granted full asylum, and 450,000 asylum-seekers whose cases are being decided or who have been given temporary permission to stay. Germany saw an influx of more than 1.1m asylum-seekers in 2015 under Angela Merkel’s controversial “open-door” asylum policy. After Hungary and a number of other countries began turning migrants away, Mrs Merkel announced Germany would take them amid fears of a humanitarian crisis. Germany’s refugee population had in fact already been rising since 2011, when there were 400,000. It continued to rise in the years following 2015’s influx, albeit at a slower rate.
