01/22/2023 04:00 (act. 01/22/2023 04:00)
In Austria, the number of asylum applications almost tripled in the previous year ©APA/dpa
The number of asylum seekers in the EU has almost halved in the last year. According to the EU Commission, the biggest increase was registered in Austria, where the number of asylum applications almost tripled. This emerges from a confidential EU Commission report, which “Welt am Sonntag” cited. By far the majority of asylum applications were again made in Germany. Austria follows in fourth place. The neighboring country, Hungary, brings up the rear.
The EU Commission’s “situation report” refers to unpublished figures from the EU Asylum Authority (USAA) as of 4 January this year. According to the report, the number of asylum applications in the 27 EU countries increased to 923,991 in 2022 – a 46.5% increase compared to 2021. In the most populous EU country, Germany, the number of asylum applications increased a third to 226,467. 154,597 orders were placed in France, 116,952 in Spain and 108,490 in Austria. The neighboring country of Hungary, on the EU’s external border, brings up the rear. Only 46 asylum applications were made here in the previous year, Slovakia registered 544 and Latvia 622 applications.
The majority of candidates in the EU in 2022 came from Syrians, followed by Afghans, Turks, Venezuelans and Colombians. “Applications from Turkish nationals more than doubled from the previous year, while applications from Venezuelans and Colombians nearly tripled,” the report said.
According to the EU report, Libya is again attracting more attention as a transit and origin country for migrants: “In 2022, Libya recorded 77,000 departures (of migrants; editor’s note) from its shores since 2017”. Ukrainian refugees are not included in the statistics because they are automatically granted a humanitarian residence permit in EU member states under the so-called mass influx directive. According to the EU report, last year there were “almost five million registrations for temporary protection of people who fled Ukraine” in the EU.