Germany is in the grip of a refugee crisis that has put an enormous strain on its social fabric and made its citizens increasingly vulnerable to radicalisation.
But is the German population actually fleeing for its lives or are they merely looking for a better life in the country?
Is the mass influx of migrants and refugees actually helping Germany to become less secure, less stable, less welcoming?
The answer is, both.
The number of asylum seekers and refugees has doubled in the last year and it is now estimated that at least one in every 10 German citizens is a refugee.
In addition, a third of the country’s young people have taken a turn for the worse and are at risk of becoming radicalised.
But for the most part, Germany is not experiencing the full impact of mass migration, at least not yet.
What is going on in Germany?
Many Germans are deeply suspicious of asylum seeker statistics.
In 2015, for instance, the number of people who applied for asylum rose to a record high of over 3 million.
That year, according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, the asylum seeker population increased by almost 20% in the first half of this year.
It also reached a record low of 8.3 million in February.
At the same time, the unemployment rate increased to a seven-year high of 11.4%.
Even when looking at the larger picture, Germany’s refugee problem has been the subject of intense debate and debate in Germany.
In 2016, the Green Party called for the establishment of a ‘safe zones’ to protect asylum seekers.
The Greens are part of a coalition that includes the Social Democrats, the centre-left Greens and the Christian Democrats.
The party is expected to form a minority government in 2019.
So, are there major problems?
According to Germany Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, the refugee influx has led to “huge increases” in the number and size of shelters, but it is also “a real threat” to the security of Germany.
A recent report by the Federal Statistical Service (Bundesverfassungsschutz) showed that the number is growing rapidly, but that Germany has the second highest number of ‘safe spaces’ (private residences) in the world.
The ‘safe’ zones are essentially small towns or cities where people can take shelter in private homes and are not monitored by the authorities.
For the most common of the cases, the German authorities simply issue a warning, but for other cases the authorities will not intervene.
Some experts have also warned that the numbers of asylum-seekers in Germany are “too high”.
This is especially true for women.
According to a report by Germany’s federal police, asylum-seeker numbers increased from 517,000 in 2015 to 788,000 last year.
In contrast, the country has just 25 ‘safe cities’ for women in which women are free to live in their own homes.
And in 2015, the majority of women who applied in Germany were rejected by the asylum authorities.
In response, many of them chose to leave the country themselves.
In fact, according the Bundesanstalt für Verfassbarung, a conservative German think-tank, asylum applications have doubled in 2017 to 6.7 million.
Is this the only issue affecting Germany?
No.
There are other factors that are also causing problems for the country, including a large number of refugees in Germany who are not receiving the benefits they need to survive.
For instance, a recent report from the German Institute for Economic Research found that the average annual income of asylum applicants in Germany has dropped by almost one third since 2015.
As a result, the average income of those who have received asylum in the past two years has dropped from €1,934 to €1.8 million.
This has had a major impact on German social security benefits.
The Bundesanstaatwirtschaftsfachsverfahren (BESF), the state government agency for asylum benefits, has estimated that the state is on track to receive around €2 billion less in welfare benefits than it would have without the refugees.
In the meantime, Germany continues to see the biggest increase in the population of asylum claims in the European Union.
In 2017, the total number of claims rose from 5.4 million to 6 million.
But as of January, the state of Bavaria was still on track for a whopping 80,000 asylum claims.
Is Germany a safe country?
Germany has experienced a steady decline in its crime rates, especially for violent crimes such as rape and murder.
According the German Crime Survey, in 2015 Germany’s murder rate was 0.75 per 100,000 population, compared to 1.4 in 2015.
The figure is significantly lower than the EU average of 1.3.
In comparison, in the United States, the murder rate is at 1.32 per 100 in 2016.
In Germany, the crime rate is lower than France, Belgium and Sweden.
In recent years, the police have been working