Last year, Europe experienced a significant influx of asylum seekers, with the numbers surpassing the one million mark. The European Union Asylum Agency, which is situated on the Mediterranean island of Malta, reported a total of 1.14 million applications. This data includes applications from the 27 EU member states, as well as from Norway and Switzerland. The annual report that disclosed this information was made public in Valletta on Wednesday. When compared to the previous year, these figures indicate an 18 percent increase in asylum applications.
Applicants from Syria
As per the data from the asylum agency, a majority of these applicants are from Syria, which is currently ravaged by civil war, with Afghanistan following closely behind. The report also revealed a surge in applications from Palestinians towards the end of the year, coinciding with the onset of the new Gaza war in October. Germany topped the list of preferred destinations among asylum seekers. In the span of January to December 2023, Germany alone registered 334,000 new applications.
In the year preceding this, the total number of applications hovered slightly below the million mark, at 996,000. However, the years 2015 and 2016 witnessed significantly higher numbers, with 1.4 million and 1.3 million applications respectively. It’s worth mentioning that these figures do not account for the over 4.4 million individuals from Ukraine who sought refuge in the EU. These individuals were granted temporary protection in the wake of the Russian war of aggression.
