Madrid, 13 apr. Spain is the third country in the European Union (EU) with the fewest asylum applications recognized in 2022, with 16.5% approvals, despite being the third with the most applications, according to a report by the Spanish Commission for Refugee Assistance (CEAR) published this Thursday.
The organization celebrates that the figure has grown compared to 10% the previous year, but warns that it is still far from the average of 38% in the EU. Only Malta and Cyprus approve fewer applications.
The 118,842 asylum requests registered in 2022 represent an increase of 82% after the end of border restrictions due to the pandemic and a record in Spain, the third country with the most applicants, behind Germany (243,835) and France (156,455).
The five main nationalities of origin of the petitions registered in Spain were Venezuela (45,748), Colombia (36,012), Peru (8,937), Morocco (3,905) and Honduras (3,017).
In total, Spain resolved 86,997 requests favorably, also a record number, and those from Malians (4,883), Afghans (1,535), Ukrainians (1,337) and Colombians (658) stand out.
The majority of Venezuelans do not obtain international protection, although they do receive temporary permits for humanitarian reasons (20,580 people in 2022).
In the EU as a whole, 963,067 applications for international protection were registered, compared to 630,630 the previous year.
CEAR denounces the shortage of appointments to access the asylum procedure, which means that migrants have to wait “in an irregular situation between six and eight months on average to present their application” and are forced to “resort to the informal market to access to this right, which violates the European Procedures Directive”.
The figures in the report do not, however, include the more than 161,037 people from Ukraine who obtained temporary protection activated in March 2022 in the EU after the start of the war, CEAR clarifies.
In this context, the organization applauds the “efficient” response offered by Spain.
Most of the asylum seekers arrived in Spain by air and CEAR draws attention to the 2,900 people who died at sea trying to reach the European coast, at least 1,170 of them heading towards Spain.
According to the organization, the Spanish authorities grant international protection to 99.2% of applicants from countries in conflict such as Burkina Faso, while 98% of Venezuelans are left with protection for humanitarian reasons. EFE
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