After over a decade of war and economic collapse in their country, Syrians continue to be the top nationality of asylum-seekers in Europe
Nearly one million people applied for international protection in the European Union in 2022, the highest level since a reflux of refugees in 2016, according to data published Wednesday.
The EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) said 966,000 asylum applications were made in the 27 EU countries plus Switzerland and Norway last year, a 50 percent surge from 2021. That didn’t include the more than four million Ukrainian refugees who were granted temporary protection after fleeing the war.
After over a decade of war and economic collapse in their country, Syrians continue to be the top nationality of asylum-seekers in Europe, with more than 130,000 applications. They were followed closely by Afghans escaping the spiraling security, humanitarian, and financial troubles following the Taliban’s takeover.
Migrants from Turkey, Venezuela, Colombia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Georgia were the next biggest groups, though in smaller numbers. Soaring inflation and “democratic backsliding” in Turkey were among the factors believed to have caused the increase from there, the agency said.
The surge in asylum-seekers was linked by EUAA to the easing of Covid travel restrictions, increasing food insecurity, and conflicts throughout the world. Though most protection seekers enter the EU legally, some also crossed land and sea borders without permission.
Last year also saw the highest number of unaccompanied minors – 43,000 – since 2015, when more than a million asylum-seekers, most of them from Syria, came to Europe. Two-thirds of the unaccompanied minors in 2022 came from Syria and Afghanistan.
The 16th-biggest group of asylum-seekers was Russians, with 16,920 claims. Then came applicants from Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Albania, Peru, and Eritrea.
