Refugees: The number of asylum seekers rose by half this year

The number of asylum seekers in the has increased dramatically this year. In the first ten months of the year there were almost 790,000 in the EU asylum applications been asked, said the Director of the European Asylum Authority EUAA, Nina Gregori, in an interview with our editors. This is from January to October a 54 percent increase compared to the same period last year, she added. “The geopolitical developments this year and last year had a direct impact on the need for international protection and led to increasing displacement to EU countries,” Gregori said.

This trend has intensified in recent months. However, one has to take into account that the number of asylum seekers this year will be lower than in 2015 and 2016, despite the increase – at that time around 1.3 million asylum seekers were registered.

However, the new figures do not include the refugees from Ukraine who, after a EU decision do not have to apply for asylum: According to Gregori, 4.7 million people from Ukraine have been registered in the EU for temporary protection in a united Europe. She said responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been the biggest challenge this year, the European ones recording systems were thus “put under considerable pressure”. However, the activation of the directive on temporary protection prevented the collapse of the national asylum systems in the EU.

The development in the EU largely corresponds to the trend in Germany. According to the Federal Office for Migration, almost 190,000 asylum seekers with first-time applications had been registered here by the end of November – an increase of 43 percent compared to the same period last year, i.e. slightly less than in the united Europe as a whole.

Germany thus remains the main destination country for asylum seekers in the EU; in the first three quarters of 2022, the share was 22 percent – more than every fifth application was made in this country, which, however, is roughly the same population share of Germany in the Union. France is in second place, with Hungary again bringing up the rear. Gregori emphasized that the number of asylum seekers will continue to rise in the foreseeable future

Gregori emphasized that the number of asylum seekers will continue to rise in the foreseeable future. “Instability and threats to human security are a feature of the world in which we live. Unfortunately, they are not temporary.” Most recently, according to official data, migrants from Syria made up the largest group of asylum applicants, followed by people from Afghanistan and – at a record high – from Turkey.

The new wave of refugees has long been a new concern for politicians in Europe. The pressure had increased on all common refugee routes this year, the EU border protection group Frontex reports an increase in illegal border crossings of over 70 percent compared to the previous year. The biggest crowds are on the Western Balkans routewhere the number of arrivals more than doubled, but significantly more refugees are also coming via the eastern Mediterranean and the central Mediterranean route from Libya or Tunisia, especially to Italy.

The consequences are often fatal: According to the UN refugee agency, more than a thousand people lost their lives fleeing across the Mediterranean this year. EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson has therefore presented an action plan for the central Mediterranean: more intensive cooperation with countries of origin and transit is planned, and the voluntary distribution of migrants within the EU is to be accelerated.

“We cannot continue to act from one crisis to the next,” the EU Commission is now warning. Vice-President Margeritis Schinas is urging Member States to finally adopt the Commission’s proposal EU Migration Pact to be decided: more external border protection, quick deportation of hopeless asylum seekers, solidarity distribution of the other refugees within Europe.

In view of the development, the head of the EU asylum authority is also pushing for progress with this 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 by the time of the 2024 European elections. “Progress on these issues is important,” says Gregori.

The agency EUAA, headquartered in Malta, plays a central role in this. It aims to help harmonize the asylum systems and practices of all Member States and provides them with practical, legal, technical, advisory and operational support. The authority, which was previously called EASO, was only renamed at the beginning of the year and its mandate was significantly expanded.

Director Gregori said the international development, size and scope of EUAA activities had literally “exploded” in just one year. For the end of year the EUAA signed operational plans with 14 member states, in 2019 there were only 3 countries. “By the end of the year, our operational support and training services will have resulted in protection for millions of Ukrainians wherever they are registered in Europe. And of course this is on top of continuing to support Member States in their asylum and reception work.”

The Asylum Agency is also working on a monitoring mechanism with which the EUAA will support member states in overcoming challenges in their asylum systems. A new asylum reserve pool with 500 people, who could be sent to countries within a few days if necessary, is also on the way to implementation. the EUAA chief also called for progress in the planned EU asylum and migration reform.

She welcomes the announcement at EU level that a structural solution for asylum and migration management will European elections to be found in 2024; 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,” warned Gregori.

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