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Authorities in Germany hope that another trend could have a bigger impact in the short run: migrants being fed up with the country or fearing deportation who decide to go back. More than twice as many migrants departed Germany voluntarily this year than were deported.
Out of the 55,000 migrants who left voluntarily, 15,000 were Albanians. About 5,000 returned to Serbia, Iraq and Kosovo, respectively. The numbers were first reported by Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. A spokesperson for the migration ministry confirmed their authenticity on Wednesday.
Germany offers individuals or families willing to return to their countries of origin financial benefits that can amount to several thousands of euros, including travel costs and a so-called "start-up grants." Promoted as an alternative to conventional development aid, such payments are supposed to help vitalize local economies and to prevent returnees and others from ending up fleeing to Europe again.
The German government will spend more than $155 million on additional development aid projects over the next three years in countries that many migrants leave to go to Germany. Among the nations included are Morocco and Tunisia, as well as Kosovo, Serbia and Albania, which are generally considered "safe" by German authorities.
Voluntary departures are unlikely to solve Germany's lagging efforts to deport more migrants, however. Out of the almost 900,000 people who entered last year alone, many remain in the country despite having been refused asylum.
German authorities say that deportations are expensive and difficult to organize. Migrants are often arrested at night and later put on planes to their home countries.
Pressure is on the rise to reform that process as more details are emerging about efforts to deport Anis Amri, who killed 12 people in Berlin's Christmas market attack last week. He was fatally shot by a police officer in Italy as he fled.
Despite a criminal past, the 24-year-old could not be deported to his home country Tunisia for months, because he lacked documents the North African nation had failed to provide, according to German media reports. He did flee Germany eventually - after his attack.
Previously:
• 07/25/16 Germany has some of the world's strictest gun laws, yet illegal weapons remain a threat
• 07/11/16 Leaked document says 2,000 'Middle East' men allegedly assaulted 1,200 German women on New Year's Eve
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