It is difficult to determine the exact number of Kurds residing in Germany. The reason is simple and sad at the same time: there is no internationally recognized Kurdish state, and no independent Kurdish nationality. The Kurds residing in Germany come from different countries, especially Türkiye and Syria, and many of them have been subjected to oppression in their countries of origin, while others were born in Germany.
However, the Media Service for Migration and Integration (Mediendienst Integration), a German media organization specialized in providing information, data and research related to immigration, asylum, integration and discrimination in Germany, attempted to shed more light on the numbers of Kurds and their living conditions in Germany.
In a video conference organized by the “Information Service for Migration and Integration,” psychotherapist and social scientist Chenur Ghadiri spoke about the latest studies and statistics, as well as about the problems and hostility facing Kurds in Germany.
Ghadiri herself was born in Iraq in 1970 and teaches at the Protestant University of Bochum. In January of this year, I co-authored a study in which the opinions of several hundred Kurdish men and women in Munich were surveyed.
The result of her research: The Kurds number about 1.5 million people, making them one of the largest immigrant groups in Germany. Since 2010 alone, more than 250,000 people have arrived in Germany, most of them from Syria. The main reason for fleeing was increasing persecution during the Syrian Civil War.
“In 2011, the federal government estimated the number of Kurds in Germany at about 800,000 people,” says the researcher from Bochum. Between 2010 and July 2026, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees registered approximately 608,000 asylum applications.
The situation has changed radically at times over the past months, especially for people coming from Syria. “After the fall of the Assad regime in 2024, return movements began. At the same time, the situation remains unstable, especially in the north and northeast,” says Ghadiri. However, the German government now wants to deport more people to Syria and is already doing so, which leads to great concern among those concerned.
Ghadri added that human rights organizations are reporting arbitrary violations and accusing the Syrian transitional government of using violence against the Kurds, especially in Aleppo.
Difficulties in recovering their own belongings after return are also reported. Although the battles that were previously raging in Syria have calmed down, there can be no talk of a safe country, according to Ghadiri.
In 2025, Türkiye was the most important country for deportation from Germany. In this context, anti-terrorism laws are still widely interpreted despite the disarmament of the PKK.
Türkiye also plays a pivotal role in the history of Kurdish migration to Germany. From about 1920, members of the elite, including students, diplomats and intellectuals, began to come to Germany. Since 1961, hundreds of thousands of Kurds have followed them as laborers under German-Turkish employment agreements. The third big wave of migration essentially began in 2010 when war and persecution forced many people to flee.
In addition, Kurds in Germany have repeatedly suffered from public suspicion that they are supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, whose activity has been banned in Germany since 1993.
In addition, the Kurds in particular are being exposed to hostility from other immigrant groups in Germany, in addition to renewed reservations towards immigrants in general.
“These specific criticisms directed against the Kurds in particular stem from elements belonging to other parts of the immigrant community, which often represent the majority in the countries of origin such as Turkish ultra-nationalist groups,” says Gaderi.
The researcher adds: "Many of them feel at home in Germany. They are active in parties, municipalities, and associations." “At the same time, war and persecution are still very present in their countries of origin.”
News about the disarmament of the PKK is received with great interest and at the same time with a sense of uncertainty. In August, the Turkish Parliament passed a law providing a limited and conditional amnesty for PKK fighters. For its part, the Kurdistan Workers' Party recently announced that it had completely withdrawn all of its fighters from Türkiye and northern Iraq.
