The number of asylum seekers in the countries of the European Union has risen sharply in the past year.
A total of 966,000 applications were made, an increase of more than 50 percent compared to the previous year, as announced by the EU asylum authority in Valletta. This is the highest number since 2016. In addition, there are around four million people who fled Ukraine and found refuge in the EU.
People from Syria (132,000) and Afghanistan (129,000) came first in asylum applications, the Malta-based authority wrote. Turkey came third among the countries of origin with 55,000 applications, more than twice as many as a year earlier.
According to the announcement, 632,000 applications were decided in the first instance last year, and the recognition rate was 40 percent. The authority explains the sharp increase in the number of asylum applications, among other things, with the elimination of corona-related travel restrictions as well as with armed conflicts and poor nutrition in many parts of the world.
