Amidst the negotiations of the Migration Pact under the Spanish presidency of the EU, the European Asylum Agency published yesterday that the Twenty-seven, together with Norway and Switzerland, have received the first six months of 2023 more than half a million asylum applications, the highest number since the so-called refugee crisis of 2015 and 2016.
In total, applications amounted to 519,000, an increase of 28% compared to the same period of the previous year. The highest number was recorded in Germany, 30%, followed by Spain (17%) and France (16%). According to the agency's calculations, the million requests could be exceeded, as was the case seven years ago, if you take into account that at the end of June more than 600,000 requests were still pending approval.
The nationality with the most requests is Syrian, with 67,000 applicants, 13% of the total. More than ten years after the Arab Spring broke out in the country and a civil war that has bled it dry, it has remained for years the main place for people fleeing to Europe. Even so, it has increased by 47% compared to last year: the situation in Syria has worsened due to economic issues (in addition to humanitarian and political) and there is hostility towards Syrians in surrounding countries, like Turkey
Of the Syrians, more than half applied for asylum in Germany (62% of the total), as was the case between 2015 and 2016, followed by Austria (10%) and Bulgaria (6%). This last country is often not the final destination of many of these people, but it is one of those that form the Western Balkans route that goes towards the center of Europe, through which thousands of people cross to reach other European states.
Afghanistan, with 55,000 requests, is the second nationality of the vast majority of asylum seekers. The return of the Taliban to power has caused a large increase in people fleeing an isolated country, with a galloping economic crisis and which practically has to survive through international aid, with a serious setback in human rights, especially for women and ethnic minorities.
A trend that will continue in 2023, as in previous years, is the increase in requests from Venezuelans and Colombians, with 13% of the total of all those there have been in the EU. This is an increase of 41% and 73%, respectively. "The vast majority of these requests have a singularity and that is that they took place in a single Member State: Spain", the report states.
The data is made public at a time when migration is once again one of the hottest topics with less than a year to go before the European elections, with the migration pact that wants to be closed before the end of the year, and with the governments of Poland and Hungary strained by their refusal to take in any migrants.
The far-right Polish Government faces the polls in October and a controversial referendum also planned for the same dates in which Poles will be asked about welcoming migrants. The reason is due to the pact reached in June by EU interior ministers, in which they supported the distribution of asylum seekers in the event of an unusually large number of arrivals. If some countries refuse, they will have to pay 20,000 euros per person per year. The only two countries that voted against it were Poland and Hungary. It is not the only State that has taken controversial measures in recent days: the Federal Government of Belgium has decided that it will not offer asylum to single men and will prioritize families with children, due to the lack of enough reception places.
In recent months, the European Union has tried to close agreements, for example with Tunisia, in order to keep migration under control. The vast majority of arrivals took place in Italy, with more than 65,000, 140% more than in 2022.
