EU countries have received an unusually high number of asylum applications in recent months, EUAA says in a statement
Asylum applications in the EU hit a new highafter refugee crisis of 2015-2016, according to the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA).
EU countries received an unusually large number of asylum applications in recent months, EUAA emphasizes in a statement. Specifically, in August 2022 applications reached around 84,500, a new high level since the refugee crisis of 2015/2016.
From the beginning of 2022, EU countries have received around 564,000 asylum applications, up by 62% compared to the same period in 2021. At the same time, large numbers of people leaving Ukraine continued to seek temporary protection status in the EU. In August, there were around 255,000 registrations for temporary protection, almost exclusively by Ukrainian citizens. By October 23, more than 4.6 million registrations had taken place. In total, asylum applications and registrations for temporary protection so far in 2022 have exceeded 5 million.
Most of them from Afghans and Syrians
Most of the asylum applications submitted in August to the EU came from Afghans (around 12,100) and Syrians (11,900), a number that increased for both nationalities by 30% since July. In the 12 months since the Taliban took over Afghanistan (August 2021), Afghans have submitted around 127,000 asylum applications to the EU. In the same period, asylum applications from Syria have grown at a faster rate. In August, Syrians submitted the most applications since October 2016, and from June to August, Syrians submitted more applications than Afghans for the first time.
A recent EUAA report found that Afghans mainly used the Western Balkans route to the EU. Based on Frontex data, illegal border crossings by Afghans on this route have increased somewhat in recent months, while for Syrians, have more than doubled since April (close to 10,000 in August). This could mean that many Syrian applicants were coming from Turkey, where they face increasingly uncertain prospects.
Turks were the third largest group of applicants in August (around 4,600), continuing an upward trend in arrivals recorded since March.
Indian nationals (4,200) continued to file sharply more applications, reaching a new record high in August (+46% from July) and becoming the fourth largest group.
This is followed by Pakistanis (3,800), Venezuelans (3,600), Colombians (3,500) and applications from Bangladesh (3,300).
As a regional group, the North African countries of Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Libya together accounted for about 6,400 applications in August, the most recorded.
Most unaccompanied minors since 2015
Applications from unaccompanied minors jumped to nearly 4,700 in August, up 28% from July and reaching a new record high since 2015. The main drivers of this increase were unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan (nearly 2,300 in August, + 40 % from July) and Syria (1 100, +49 %).
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