Palestinians in Germany: The largest Palestinian diaspora in Europe

Since 2005, around 56,000 Palestinians have applied for asylum in Germany. This was the result of a small inquiry from the left-wing faction in the Bundestag, which was submitted to the taz. Almost half of them came to Germany in 2014 and 2015. It can be assumed that many of these Palestinians came to Germany from Syria and had already lived there as refugees.

On average, the asylum seekers were 22.5 years old - 21,000 of them were minors when they arrived in Germany. About twice as many men came as women. Very little is known about the life stories of Palestinians living in Germany. “Official data is incomplete because many are stateless as a result of the Nakba or have citizenship of another country,” says Clara Bünger from the Left to the taz. The Nakba refers to the flight and expulsion of Palestinians in the first Middle East war in 1948 and during the founding of the state of Israel.

The nationality of 32,000 of the 56,000 asylum seekers was unclear. About 10,000 others were stateless. After the founding of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled to Syria, Lebanon and other neighboring countries. However, they usually did not receive citizenship there and their children and grandchildren also remained refugees.

Only around 3,000 of the applicants came to Germany from the Palestinian areas of Gaza and the West Bank. 55 percent of their asylum applications were approved. However, the rate was significantly higher if the asylum seekers did not come directly from the Palestinian territories. The applications of recognized stateless persons were approved in 90 percent of cases. On average, around 80 percent of asylum applications submitted have been approved since 2005.

According to the small inquiry, there have been 21 deportations of Palestinians since 2024, 13 of them to Greece. Further deportations went to Romania, France, Italy and North Macedonia. All but 1 deportation occurred under the Dublin Convention, which requires refugees to apply for asylum in the European country they first entered. During the same period, 51 people were deported - all but 3 have now left Germany. Recently, asylum arrivals have generally declined sharply.

There are no reliable figures as to how many Palestinians actually live in Germany. The Germany editorial network estimates that there are between 175,000 and 225,000 people - which would make Germany the country with the most Palestinian refugees in Europe. Nevertheless, public debates mostly revolve around individual extremist cases.

“Palestinians are often criminalized across the board in the political and media debate and placed under suspicion of violence and terrorism,” says Bünger. This has been particularly true since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. “Legitimate and predominantly peaceful protests against the genocide in Gaza were regularly beaten up by the police,” she said.

The federal government did not have any figures on racist incidents against Palestinians in Germany. “The federal government is showing disinterest,” said Bünger. She calls for an end to the generalized view of the Palestinian community in Germany. Instead, a differentiated examination of their perspectives, their pain and their interests is needed.