With nearly one million applications, this is a record since the refugee crisis in 2016. Some 966,000 asylum applications were registered in 2022 in European Union countries Switzerland and Norway, according to data released Wednesday by the EU Agency for Asylum (EUEA). These applications, mostly filed by Syrians and Afghans, are up more than 50% from 2021, the provisional data show.

The increase is due "in part to the lifting of restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic", but also to situations of conflict and food insecurity around the world, notes the agency. These asylum seekers are in addition to the 4 million Ukrainians who have fled the war and enjoy a special status of temporary protection in the EU, says the AEAU, stressing that the combination of the two has put "national reception systems under considerable pressure".

Many unaccompanied minors

In 2015-2016, during the influx of refugees into Europe caused in particular by the stalemate of the conflict in Syria, the number of asylum seekers had reached 1.3 million (in 2015) and 1.2 million (in 2016). Asylum applications from unaccompanied minors amounted to 43,000 in 2022, the highest number since 2015. Overall, Syrians (132,000) and Afghans (129,000) remain by far the top applicants for protection, followed by Turks (55,000).

Venezuelans (51,000 applications) and Colombians (43,000), who do not need a visa to enter the European area, filed three times more applications than in 2021. Then come the Pakistanis (37,000), the Bangladeshis (34,000), the Georgians (29,000). Ukrainians, to whom the EU decided in March 2022 to grant a special temporary protected status, still were 28,000 to apply for asylum. About 17,000 Russians did the same.

Disparities by country of origin

Some 40% of first instance decisions in 2022 were positive – granting the applicant refugee or subsidiary protection status – the highest "recognition rate" in five years. This rate is particularly high for Syrians (94%), Belarusians (88%), Ukrainians (86%), Eritreans and Yemenis (84% each), Malians (70%).

On the other hand, it is very low for nationals of India, Moldova, North Macedonia and Vietnam (1%), Tunisia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (2%), Venezuela, Serbia and Nepal (3%).

  • Society
  • Immigration
  • Asylum seekers
  • Asylum
  • Illegal immigration