Nearly one million asylum claims were lodged in the EU, Switzerland and Norway last year, the most since 2016. Syrians and Afghans remained the main applicants, while claims from Turkish nationals more than doubled.
The number of asylum applications lodged in the 27 countries of the EU, plus Switzerland and Norway, was close to a million in 2022: that's the highest it's been since 2016, when there was an influx of around 1.25 million refugees, mainly from Syria.
Releasing the figures on Wednesday (February 22) the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) said asylum applications last year increased by about 50% on 2021.
This was partly because, during 2020 and 2021, there had been a dip in the number of applications due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic which had blocked the movement of many migrants.
As a result some of the 'push factors' causing people to leave their countries and apply for protection in Europe only became evident after restrictions were lifted.
"In fact, (the restrictions) served to mask underlying issues of food and human insecurity – the latter owed to conflicts and instability – in many regions of origin," said Andrew McKinlay, EUAA media spokesperson.
Turkish applicants more than double
These push factors also explain why nationals of Syria and Afghanistan continue to be the two largest applicant groups, McKinlay told InfoMigrants. In 2022, Syrians and Afghans submitted over 260,000 applications, including 29,000 from unaccompanied minors.
Turkish applicants became the third-largest group in 2022, more than doubling in numbers to around 55,000. Migrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Georgia were the next biggest groups. In total there were 37,000 applications from Pakistanis and 34,000 applications from Bangladeshis, the most on record for that nationality.
Read more: EU asylum authority: number of applications up 54%, will rise further
All-time highs were also recorded for Indians and Burundians. This was a result of a visa-free entry regime for these nationals to Serbia, which changed in late 2022. Similarly, visa-free entry to non-EU countries in the Western Balkans is also thought to have contributed to the high numbers of applications from Turkish nationals, as well as from Tunisians.
Citizens of three north African countries, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, applied the most on record, as did nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo, among others.
Around 4 million people fleeing Ukraine did not come under the asylum data as they benefit from a separate EU temporary protection program introduced in March 2022, which gives automatic protection after registration. The EUAA notes that without this dedicated route for Ukrainians, Europe’s asylum systems would have collapsed.
As it was, asylum authorities managed to process more claims in 2022 than the previous year but they were still unable to keep pace with the increase in applications. As a result, at the end of the year there were around 636,000 people awaiting a decision.
Read more: Ukraine war has caused largest refugee movement since WWII
Afghan recognition rate down
As well as submitting around 129,000 asylum applications last year, a large number of Afghans (85,000) were also issued with decisions on their claims. However, the rate of positive decisions for Afghans fell, from 66% in 2021, to 54% in 2022. This can be explained by a surge in the number of Afghans fleeing the country in October and November, following the Taliban takeover, according to the EUAA.
"The higher 66% recognition rate for Afghan nationals in 2021 was [...] likely directly because of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban insurgency – then just two months prior," McKinlay said.
The drop in the recognition rate for Afghans was also probably due to more decisions in 2022 granting a humanitarian status under national law, McKinlay explained. Only refugee status and subsidiary protection are counted towards the EU recognition rate.
Overall however, the recognition rate across all nationalities rose in 2022 to its highest level in five years at 40%, or two in five. Among the groups with an especially high chance of receiving a positive decision were Syrians, Eritreans, Yemenis and Malians. In contrast, the recognition rate was less than 4% for Indians, Tunisians and Nepalis, among others.
Read more: EU refugee strait could worsen in 2023 without policy change