The refugee situation is a crisis of historic proportions. Not since World War II have we seen such a large wave of migration on the European continent. Germany has been the first destination of many of those fleeing the war in Syria, the hardships in Afghanistan and Iraq, or the dire situation in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. We expect 800,000 asylum seekers to come to Germany this year. This would be the highest number ever registered in Germany. To put this number in perspective, it would be equivalent to 3.5 million refugees coming to the US. The crisis will change the face of Germany and all of Europe. The warm welcome provided by my fellow Germans has been impressive: Thousands of volunteers are working in Germany to provide food and shelter for the refugees. When the trains full of refugees arrived in Munich, hundreds of citizens spontaneously went to the train station with arms full of food, water, and baby articles. But alongside this very positive reception, there are also fears and reservations among the population. We have to make sure that citizens continue to stand behind the government's efforts. Germany has very generous asylum laws, and we are proud of this. It is a lesson we have learned from the time of the Nazi dictatorship, when so many Germans had to flee their native country and rely on the generosity of countries like the United States to take them in.
But the latest refugee crisis will also test Germany and Europe logistically. The German government is allocating an additional €6 billion to assisting refugees in Germany and reception centers will also be expanded. We are working on speeding up the asylum process. Of prime importance is integrating into German society those refugees who will stay. They will need to learn German and should be allowed to work without delay. Germany already is a country of immigrants. Twenty percent of Germans are immigrants themselves or have parents or grandparents who are.
The refugee situation also poses a security challenge. Germany will hire an additional 3,000 federal police officers, who will also be responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the refugees' documentation. We need to maintain a regulated and orderly entry procedure into Germany. This is why we have temporarily reintroduced border controls. This is also a signal to Europe, because neither the front countries of Greece, Italy, or Hungary nor the main destination countries of Austria, Sweden, and Germany can solve the refugee question alone. The refugee crisis is a litmus test of our solidarity. Europe as a whole must act and the member states must share responsibility for refugees seeking asylum.
The European asylum system was not prepared for this influx of refugees and is in need of reform. Germany presented its proposals, which include a way of distributing the refugees more equally among the countries of the European Union; an extended list of safe countries of origin; and a more integrated European asylum policy. Jean Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is thinking along these same lines.
The refugee crisis is not only a European challenge, but rather one facing Western civilization and what we stand for. The international community will have to work together to address the circumstances that cause people to flee their homelands in the first place. We need an international effort to end the civil war and bloodshed in Syria, to further stabilize places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and to address the shortcomings in many countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Many of these countries suffer from civil war or simply dysfunctional government. Also, let's not forget the 1.8 million refugees in Turkey and the nearly 1.2 million refugees in the small country of Lebanon. Here, too, these countries need all the help they can get to cope with this situation. Therefore, increasing funding for the UN refugee agency UNHCR and the World Food Program must also be a part of the strategy. All this shows us the refugee situation will not be over in the next weeks. There will be no easy fix for this challenge - it will take years, probably even a generation. But I am confident that the European Union will find a common solution in a spirit of solidarity.