Since the Taliban took power in Kabul a year ago, 5,770 Afghan nationals have requested asylum in Italy. This was a rise of almost 600% compared with the 827 requests made between August 1, 2020 and July 31, 2021.

This is according to the Italian interior ministry, which released new asylum figures on Monday (August 15).

In the past 12 months, 5,960 Afghans were granted international protection in Italy -- this includes people who filed requests earlier. Some 96% of the requests reviewed were accepted. From August 2020 to July 2021, a total of 1,407 Afghans had been granted protection.

Ukrainian refugees in Italy

The interior ministry report also showed a sharp rise in protection requests from Ukrainian nationals, clearly a result of the war with Russia.

Some 149,321 temporary protection permits had been granted to those fleeing the war in Ukraine, according to figures last updated on July 31.

Meanwhile, 2,653 Ukrainians requested asylum in the past 12 months -- compared to only a few hundred the previous year. Over a thousand Ukrainians were recently granted international protection.

More people granted citizenship

In the meantime, an increase was seen in citizenship requests from foreigners residing in Italy.

The interior ministry report noted that from August 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022, a total of 129,623 citizenship requests had been made. That's 45.15% more than in the previous 12 months, when 89,304 citizenship requests were filed.

Between August 2021 and July 2022, Italian officials examined 175,912 requests -- 76.2% of applicants (134,016) were successful. In the previous 12 months, only 70,014 people were granted Italian citizenship.

There was also a rise stay permits granted in Italy. In the past 12 months, 1,735,128 stay permits were issued -- among them 459,632 to people with work contracts and 644,651 to people eligible for family reunification.