The number of migrants and rejected asylum seekers leaving Germany voluntarily rose sharply in the first half of 2026. Between January and the end of June, 9,276 people returned to their home countries under federal return programmes, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) said on Monday — 26 percent more than a year earlier. Most of them travelled back to Syria.
The comparison period in 2025 saw 7,348 voluntary departures. According to the authority, subsidised voluntary return by foreigners obliged to leave the country had already climbed steeply in 2025 under the humanitarian return assistance programme REAG/GARP. Across the whole of 2025, federal authorities supported 16,578 people in returning to their country of origin or to a third country willing to receive them. In 2024, the figure stood at 10,358. The newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe were the first to report the data.
Syria accounted for the largest share, with 2,843 people, BAMF told the news agency AFP in response to an enquiry. Turkey followed closely with 2,815, ahead of Russia (530), Colombia (486) and Iraq (362).
According to the Central Register of Foreigners, a total of 258,845 people in Germany were obliged to leave the country at the end of June 2026. Of these, 199,271 held tolerated status ("Duldung"), meaning their deportation had been temporarily suspended.
Through the REAG/GARP programme, BAMF promotes the voluntary return of refugees to their countries of origin or to third countries. The federal office covers costs such as the flight out of Germany and pays "Starthilfe", start-up assistance, of 1,000 euros per adult and 500 euros for children and young people. Since January 2025, BAMF has once again been offering subsidised voluntary departure to Syria as well. The programme had previously been suspended because of the civil war in the country.
In December 2024, Syria's long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad was toppled by Islamist militias. That also brought an end to a 13-year civil war that had driven millions of people to flee.
The government under interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking the lifting of international sanctions and foreign support for reconstruction. To that end, the new leadership has given assurances that it will protect the country's minorities. Even so, violence has repeatedly flared, particularly against Alawites, Druze and Christians.
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