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The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) announced on Wednesday (November 9) that in August, asylum applications in the EU+ reached a new high in the last seven years.
This is a "a new monthly record since the so-called 'refugee crisis' of 2015-2016" said the agency and added, "latest EU asylum trends signal increased strains on national systems."
The agency announced that in August, 84,500 asylum applications were lodged in 27 EU countries, Norway and Switzerland, and that the number of asylum applications this month increased 16 percent overall from July.
Again 255,000 registrations for temporary protection were carried out, almost exclusively of Ukrainian citizens.
Approximately one third of asylum applicants are from Afghanistan and Syria. Increased applications were also recorded for asylum from citizens of Türkiye, India and Morocco. There have also been many applications from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tunisia and Georgia.
The agency announced that the applications in August 2022 corresponds to around half of the number observed between September and November 2015 (i.e 170,000) and that many asylum seekers used the Western Balkans route into the EU.
According to the information given by EUAA, people coming from Syria and Afghanistan lodged 30 percent more applications in August compared to July.
Around 127,000 Afghanistan citizens have applied for asylum abroad since the Taliban takeover in the country in August 2021 after the chaotic draw-back of the international forces in the country led by the US.
Asylum seekers from Türkiye
According to the information given by EUAA, the third largest group seeking asylum are the citizens of Türkiye. 4,600 asylum seekers came to Europe from Türkiye. This figure is also the most on record since 2014. In fact, the report by EUAA said, "some month-to-month fluctuations notwithstanding, Turkish applications have exhibited an upward trend since the beginning of this year. Nearly all Turkish applicants (94 percent) who sought asylum in the EU+ in August, did so for the first time."
Türkiye has received billions of Euros from European funds in the last seven years in the scope of the readmission agreement signed with EU in order to help stop the citizens of Syria from entering Europe.
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The agency also announced that the number of applications by self-claimed unaccompanied minors jumped to almost 4,700 in August, which is up by 28 percent from July – a new high since 2015 and that the main drivers of the latest increase were unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan and Syria.
Background
In 2015 massive flow of refugees from Syria fleeing the war mainly towards the Greek islands caused a big trouble and disrupted the functioning of the asylum agencies in Europe leading to one of the biggest political crises in the EU. There were many polemics between the countries on who should take responsibility for the refugees and if the countries other than those that the refugees arrive in would be making a contribution. However the problem remained unsolved and there was no apparent progress made with the revision in the EU asylum system.
The "EU-Türkiye Readmission Agreement" formulated in order to stop the flow of refugees came up in this period. Although the readmission agreement and "visa liberalization" was on the agenda in succession, in Turkey the "visa liberalization" was discussed more.
The EU-Türkiye Readmission Agreement includes provisions for the readmission of citizens of EU countries, Turkey and also other countries and also stateless persons. (AEK/PE/VK)
