More people applied for asylum in the European Union last year than at any time since 2015/2016. According to the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA), a total of 966,000 people seeking protection have applied for asylum in the 27 EU countries, as well as in Switzerland and Norway.
The latest figures show a 50 percent increase compared to 2021. Since 2008, higher figures have only been recorded in 2015 and 2016, when there were over a million applications. The EU agency cited the easing of restrictions on the corona pandemic, as well as numerous conflicts and food shortages, as reasons for the current increase. Secondary migration within the EU and a significant number of applications from nationals of visa-free countries who entered the country legally also contributed.
The largest groups of asylum seekers were Syrians (132,000 applications), Afghans (129,000), Turks (55,000), Venezuelans (51,000) and Colombians (43,000). There were also about four million refugees from Ukraine who, however, do not have to apply for asylum in the EU and are therefore not included in the figures.
Vienna has already presented figures
According to the EUAA, the asylum systems of the 27 EU countries are coming under increasing pressure due to the high number of applications. However, the EU agency has not published national figures. The Ministry of the Interior in Vienna announced in January that more asylum applications were submitted in Austria last year than during the refugee crisis in 2015, namely exactly 108,781. For comparison: in 2021 there were 39,930 asylum applications, in 2020 only 14,775 and in 2015 88,340.
Source: Krone
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