In the so-called EU+, an association of the European Union, Norway and Switzerland, around 519,000 asylum applications were registered in the first six months of the year. This is 28 percent more than in the same period last year – announced on Tuesday (05/09/2023) the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) based in Malta. And the most since the 2015-16 migration crisis.
In the same period of 2022, 409,000 people applied for international protection in EU+ countries. The agency expects that by the end of 2023, if the current trend continues, European countries will receive over a million applications.
Germany receives the most applications
Most, around 30 percent, asylum applications were submitted by the end of June in Germany. They were followed by Italy and France. Syria, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Turkey and Colombia submitted the most asylum applications. Together, they accounted for approximately 44 percent of all applicants.
Refugees from Ukraine are listed separately in the statistics. According to the EUAA, around four million people from Ukraine are currently in EU+ countries and have temporary protection granted to them as a result of the Russian invasion of their country.
According to the European Union Asylum Agency, due to the increased number of applications, many European countries are “under pressure” to process them. The number of pending asylum applications has increased by 34 percent compared to 2022. Out of the considered applications, approximately 41 percent of people received a positive decision.
A difficult agreement
One of the reasons for the record number of asylum applications is that EU countries have not yet succeeded in carrying out a comprehensive reform of the European asylum system. Recently, in the circle of ministers of internal affairs of the EU countries, a majority was obtained on the issue of tightening the current regulations and, as a result, limiting illegal immigration. However, this position still needs to be agreed with the European Parliament.
In particular, it is controversial that asylum applications from migrants from countries of origin with a recognition rate of less than 20 percent would in future be processed within 12 weeks. During this time, migrants would be held in strictly controlled reception centres. Those who have no chance of asylum would have to be sent back immediately.
Compulsory admission of refugees
Negotiations on asylum reform are considered difficult. The German government fears that standards for asylum seekers may be lowered too much, and is calling for migrant children not to be held in detention-like conditions.
On the other hand, Poland and Hungary do not want to be forced to show solidarity with countries such as Italy and Greece, where there are many refugees. The EU’s plans envisage that in the future the reception of refugees will not be voluntary, but obligatory. Countries that do not want to accept refugees will have to pay monetary compensation. This issue could play an important role in the campaign for the European elections next June.
Throughout 2022, the number of asylum applications was 996,000 (excluding people from Ukraine). In 2015, 1.4 million and in 2016, 1.3 million asylum applications were registered.
(DPA/stef)
Source: Gazeta
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