Number of asylum applications in the EU has increased by half this year
Valletta (German news agency) - In the first ten months of the year, almost 790,000 asylum applications were made in the EU, said the director of the European Asylum Authority EUAA, Nina Gregori, report the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday editions). This is an increase of 54 percent compared to the same period last year. "The geopolitical developments this year and last year had a direct impact on the needs for international protection and led to increased displacement to EU countries," said Gregori.
This trend has intensified in recent months. However, one has to take into account that the number of asylum seekers this year, despite the increase, will be below the number of the years 2015 and 2016 - at that time around 1.3 million asylum seekers were registered. However, the new figures do not include the refugees from Ukraine, who do not have to apply for asylum after an EU decision: According to Gregori, 4.7 million people from Ukraine are in the EU for the future Temporary protection registered.
She said the biggest challenge this year was the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, putting "severe pressure" on Europe's reception systems. However, the activation of the directive on temporary protection prevented the national asylum systems in the EU from collapsing. Gregori said the number of asylum seekers will continue to rise for the foreseeable future.
"Instability and threats to human security are a feature of the world we live in. Unfortunately, they are not temporary." Most recently, according to official data, migrants from Syria were the largest group of asylum applicants in the EU, followed by people from Afghanistan and Turkey.
The development in the EU also corresponds to the trend in Germany. According to data from the Federal Office for Migration (BAMF), almost 190,000 asylum seekers with first-time applications were registered there by the end of November - according to the BAMF, this corresponds to an increase of 43.2 percent compared to the same period last year. Germany thus remains the most important destination country for asylum seekers in the EU. The EUAA boss also called for progress in the planned EU asylum and migration reform. She welcomed the announcement at EU level that a structural solution for asylum and migration management should be found before the 2024 European elections; A package of laws to reform the European asylum system has been the subject of unsuccessful discussions for several years. "Progress on these issues is important," Gregori warned.
Source: Der Newsticker
Photo: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland.
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