Is There A German Refugee/Migrant Policy?

 Well....no, not exactly.

From the 1950s of West Germany, up to 2013....what you had was a 'process'.  A agency was created in Nuremberg (roughly 700 employees).  They were the 'gate-keepers'.  

If you were in Libya or Russia....wanting asylum in Germany....you went to the West German embassy, and filled out a 16-odd-page package (presenting an ID as you did this).  The embassy would validate who you were, and if you had problems/issues....then send the package to Nuremberg.  Three months later, you'd find out that you were accepted.

The embassy would call you, and hand you the visa.  Then they'd ask if you could afford the airfare.  If not....they usually helped to get you to Frankfurt.  You'd have some orientation period (couple of weeks) and then be 'settled' at some location.  

How many went through this process yearly?  It goes up and down, but it tended to  be in the range of 100,000 to 150,000 yearly.  

Once the civil war started in Iraq/Syria....an odd thing fell into practice....the idea of crossing borders without anyone stopping you.

Imagine yourself a Syrian, and wanting some element of safety.  Your distant cousin who made his way to West Germany in the 1980s.....says if you just come to Germany....they will accept you.

So you get into Turkey, and have some guy hired to take you and your five family members to the coast.  There, you pay some fisherman $100 to take you around 20 miles to a Greek isle.  There, you go over to the harbor....entering a ferry to Athens. 

You arrive in Athens about 48 hours after you've started this trip.

You take the five-hour train from Athens to the north border.  You slip $20 to the border guards, and then climb on a bus in Northern Macedonia for a four-hour ride.  You cross the Serbian border.....walking a bit and using a bus when possible.  You will eventually reach the German border and declare yourself.  

This paperwork and background check that was the 'norm' before?  Skipped.  ID confirmation?  Maybe....maybe not.

So under the Merkel-coalition....they just said....there was no process.

For a decade, it's been like this.  To be honest, the Germans want the EU to force the issue.  The EU started off and suggested EVERYONE in the EU would play, and around five countries said 'no'.....they wouldn't participate.  The EU said 'we can force you'.....to which the countries said 'no, you can't force us'.

Politically dividing Germany?  You have three elements.  You have the pro-asylum under all conditions.....no questions to be asked.  You have the anti-asylum, with no exceptions.  Then finally, you have the people (probably in the forty-percent range) who ask questions....like how much does this cost, do people have personal issues or behavioral problems.  

All of this leading eventually to some magnificent 'drama'?  Well.....you can sense this already in Italy, France and Germany.  You could lessen the tension by limiting entry into the EU....but so far, no one has figured how you do this without looking 'bad' or 'evil'.  You could also lessen tension by establishing a fast path to language, integration and entry into the job market.

So to answer the question....no, there is no clear policy, and it's impossible to find any agreement on such a thing.