--- description: Germany will mostly stop accepting asylum seekers who come from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, in a bid to reduce total migrant numbers title: Germany Moves to Cut Migrant Numbers image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b4ed011352e029d/69887b2b8e06011481464583/gettyimages-507222046.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Germany Moves to Cut Migration by Declaring Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia 'Safe' by [Simon Lewis](/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 29, 2016 3:27 AM CUT  German federal police control cars on the A3 highway near the border to Austria on a section used by arriving migrants and refugees on Jan. 28, 2016, near Passau, Germany German federal police control cars on the A3 highway near the border to Austria on a section used by arriving migrants and refugees on Jan. 28, 2016, near Passau, GermanyJohannes Simon—Getty Images by [Simon Lewis](/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 29, 2016 3:27 AM CUT Germany will [stop accepting](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35435270 "undefined") the majority of asylum seekers who come from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, as the country looks to reduce the number of migrants it accepts. Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has said that the three North African states were being added to Germany’s list of so-called “safe countries of origin,” meaning that anyone from those countries seeking refuge was unlikely to be granted asylum, the BBC reports. Morocco has already agreed to repatriate any of its citizens who land in Germany illegally. The repatriation of other asylum seekers whose applications are unsuccessful will also be speeded up. Germany has accepted more than 1.1 million people amid a Europe-wide migration crises, many fleeing the war in Syria, but others escaping poverty or political oppression in their home countries. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35435270 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4199230/germany-migrants-refugees-tunisia-algeria-morocco/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4199230/germany-migrants-refugees-tunisia-algeria-morocco/"},"headline":"Germany Moves to Cut Migration by Declaring Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia 'Safe'","datePublished":"2016-01-29T03:27:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:33:21.827Z","description":"Germany has accepted more than 1.1 million people during Europe's migration crisis","url":"https://time.com/4199230/germany-migrants-refugees-tunisia-algeria-morocco/","keywords":["Tunisia","Syria","Refugees","Germany","Algeria","Morocco","migration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b4ed011352e029d/69887b2b8e06011481464583/gettyimages-507222046.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simon Lewis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/simon-lewis/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b4ed011352e029d/69887b2b8e06011481464583/gettyimages-507222046.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Refugees Flow Slows On German-Austrian Border","caption":"Refugees Flow Slows On German-Austrian Border","creditText":"Johannes Simon—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4199230/germany-migrants-refugees-tunisia-algeria-morocco/","name":"Germany Moves to Cut Migration by Declaring Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia 'Safe'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Denmark Imposes Restrictive Migrant Policies","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ge61TWwz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-27T18:25:38.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ge61TWwz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4199230/germany-migrants-refugees-tunisia-algeria-morocco/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4199230/germany-migrants-refugees-tunisia-algeria-morocco/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```