Asylum requests in the European Union reached more than one million last year, the largest number submitted in 7 years, especially by Syrians and Afghans, according to the European Union Asylum Agency.
These numbers mean that the number of asylum seekers in 2023 is close to its level in 2015-2016, when hundreds of thousands of people, many of them Syrians fleeing war, sought asylum in Western countries.
Immigration is a major issue in Europe with elections approaching in June, as far-right nationalist parties, demanding stricter entry standards, are expected to increase their representation in the European Parliament.
This issue in Germany, a member of the European Union and which received the largest number of asylum applications in 2023 with about 29% of its total number, is considered a source of concern, especially with the far-right Alternative for Germany party leading in the opinion polls.
18% increase
According to the European Union Asylum Agency, 1.14 million asylum requests were submitted last year throughout the European Union, which includes 27 countries, in addition to Norway and Switzerland, which are members of the Schengen area.
This represents an increase of 18% over the year 2022 and confirms the clear upward trend since 2020, with the European Union’s exit from the Covid-19 pandemic, during which travel restrictions were imposed.
The number of asylum applications received by Germany was 334,000, which is double the number received by France, which amounted to 167,000, and much higher than that received by Italy (136,000).
Across the European Union, Syrians submitted 181,000 applications, while Afghans submitted 114,000, which is 11% fewer than in 2022.
Turkish citizens submitted 101,000 applications, an 82% increase over the previous year, and most of these asylum applications were in Germany.
Spain saw a third increase in applications from Venezuelans and Colombians, with more than 60,000 applications for each group. They were often able to enter Spain without needing a visa.
The asylum seekers also included Moroccans, most of them in Austria, and Egyptians, most of them in Italy, in addition to citizens of Guinea and Ivory Coast who submitted asylum requests in France.
While Germany received one in every three asylum applications submitted, Cyprus was the country with the highest percentage compared to its population.
Not all applications submitted through the European Union are approved.
The European Union Asylum Agency said that the rate of acceptance of applications last year reached 43%, the highest since 2016, but the results are largely related to nationality, as Syrians (80%) and Afghans (61%) were more than those granted protection.
As for the Turks, the rate of acceptance of their applications in the European Union has decreased “significantly” since 2019, according to the agency, with only a quarter of the applications submitted being accepted.
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2024-02-29 03:01:29
