Voluntary departure instead of deportation: The federal government is relying on financial incentives for migrants who return to their home country. But the system is apparently being exploited.

Several thousand euros in cash, benefits in kind and financial support for up to 12 months: the Federal Government’s return assistance is intended to provide an incentive for migrants to return voluntarily to their home country.

“For more than 45 years, the REAG programme has been supporting people in their voluntary return to their country of origin and accompanying them in making a new start there,” states the website of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

But this system is apparently being abused: According to research by “Welt am Sonntag”, Turkish citizens in particular seem to be deliberately entering Germany in order to receive financial assistance for their return.

According to the report, the BAMF has evidence that people from Turkey who express an intention to seek asylum in Germany seek advice on assisted departure shortly after their arrival – sometimes even just a few days after their entry or without having submitted an official application for protection.

According to the report, the people are remarkably well informed about the funding opportunities and are actually demanding them. The focus is on the REAG/GARP program, an assistance program for voluntary return financed by the federal and state governments.

The program is aimed at refugees, rejected asylum seekers and foreigners who are required to leave the country, but also at victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution.

According to “Welt am Sonntag”, the number of Turkish citizens who have been supported in leaving the country through this program has risen sharply in the past two years: from 226 in 2022 to around 1,616 in 2023.

So far this year, there have been 586 (as of January to April), a BAMF spokeswoman told the portal. In 2023, almost half of the returnees (48.5 percent) left Germany within just six months of entering the country. This figure is currently around 42.7 percent.

However, it remains unclear whether the suspected cases really represent large-scale fraud. According to “Welt am Sonntag”, the responsible Senate administration in Berlin is the only body that has presented concrete figures on the alleged abuse.

According to the report, obvious abuses by Turkish citizens were identified in 17 cases in 2023 – compared to 106 assisted departures. Five cases have been reported so far this year.

Due to the extremely high inflation and the turbulent economic situation in Turkey, more and more Turkish citizens are applying for asylum in Germany.

In the first three months of 2024, around 9,689 people from Turkey submitted a first-time application for asylum. This puts the country in third place in the immigration statistics – just behind Afghanistan (9,772 first-time applications) and the leader Syria (19,687 first-time applications).

Financial incentives for voluntary departure make sense at first glance – after all, accommodating and caring for migrants and refugees is much more expensive. However, caution is advised when this system is undermined.

Alexander Throm, domestic policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, described the misuse of return grants in the “Welt am Sonntag” as “criminal plundering of tax revenue”. The BAMF should act decisively and, if necessary, initiate criminal proceedings.

The domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sebastian Hartmann, also expressed criticism of the case: “We take every indication of improper use of financial aid for voluntary return by migrants seriously.” The return counseling services are sensitized and are investigating any suspicions, said Hartmann.