According to the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA) on Wednesday, a total of 966,000 people seeking protection applied for asylum in the 27 EU countries as well as in Switzerland and Norway – that is 50 percent more than in 2021. Since 2008, higher numbers have only been in the years Recorded in 2015 and 2016 when there were well 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 recent increase. In addition, secondary movements within the EU and a significant number of applications from nationals from visa-free countries who entered the country legally also contributed to this.
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 around 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.
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 did not publish any national figures. The Ministry of the Interior in Vienna announced in January that more asylum applications were made in Austria in the previous 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.
