Nearly one million people will apply for international protection in the EU in 2022, according to data released Wednesday, with the number of asylum applications reaching levels not seen since the 2015–2016 refugee crisis.
According to the EU asylum authority, there were 966,000 asylum applications in the EU27 countries, Norway and Switzerland last year, a 50% increase from 2021.
This does not include the more than 4 million Ukrainian refugees granted temporary protection in the EU, a special mechanism set in motion to avoid the collapse of an already jammed asylum system.
European agencies have linked the increase to continued easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions, rising food insecurity and conflicts around the world.
Most asylum seekers enter the EU legally by air on travel visas, but some cross the EU land and sea borders without permission, mainly via the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean. Some pass.
After more than a decade of war and economic collapse in their own country, Syrians remain the leading nationality of asylum seekers in Europe, with more than 130,000 applications.
This was closely followed by Afghans fleeing a spiral of security, humanitarian and economic problems after the Taliban occupation in August 2021, with 129,000 applications.
Applicants from Turkey came third, doubling the number to 55,000. Rising inflation and a “reversal of democracy” are among the factors behind the increase, the agency said.
In many places reception centers are overrun and asylum seekers are left on the streets.
Recent earthquakes that have killed nearly 46,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless in Turkey and Syria have raised concerns about a potential increase in irregular border crossings to Greece.
Germany earlier this month proposed temporarily easing visas for some of the earthquake victims, and Spain sent a small group of 100 vulnerable Syrian refugees from Turkey, which hosts 4 million refugees. promised to resettle
Venezuelans, Colombians, Bangladeshis and Georgians applied for asylum in record numbers last year, as did Moroccans, Tunisians and Egyptians. About 4% of asylum seekers in 2022 claim to be unaccompanied minors.
The European Agency has not specified which EU countries received the most applications last year. But an internal EU immigration report seen by The Associated Press puts Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Italy in the top five.
Asylum authorities resolved more than 600,000 claims last year, but received many more new ones, exacerbating existing detention situations. Of the applications analyzed, 40% were granted refugee or subsidiary protection status.
Most of them were applicants from Syria, Belarus, Eritrea, Yemen, Mali and the majority of Ukrainians who chose to apply for asylum rather than temporary protection.
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