In 2025, Germany registered 16,576 migrants participating in the voluntary return program REAG/GARP, an increase from 10,358 in 2024, according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Despite financial incentives for leaving, including one-time payments of up to €1,000 per adult and €500 per child, travel costs, and medical support, the program has often failed to prevent migrants from returning.
The majority of voluntary returnees last year came from Turkey (4,432) and Syria (3,678)—followed by Russia, Georgia, and Iraq. Germany has spent significant sums to facilitate these departures, including payments for transportation, family travel, and medical needs.
Returnees are allowed to re-enter Germany without repaying the funds if their departure was more than five years ago, a loophole that has been utilized by thousands.
Over the past decade, more than 15,000 migrants have returned to Germany after participating in voluntary return programs.
Germany’s conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) has called for a stricter migration policy, including using commercial flights in the large-scale deportation of Syrians, to start in 2026. The party argues that the Syrian civil war has ended, that protection grounds for most Syrian migrants no longer apply, and that nationwide deportation centers and faster enforcement of removals—even against the will of those affected—are necessary.
The CSU is demanding a nationwide “deportation offensive with scheduled flights,” explicitly including returns to Syria and Afghanistan.
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