EU+ Nations Receive Over Half A Million Asylum Requests In Early 2024

By the end of June, EU+ countries had received 513,000 applications for international protection. This figure remained stable compared to the first six months of 2023 but revealed significant national-level changes. Germany saw a one-fifth reduction in applications, while Italy experienced an increase of over a third. Spain maintained a high but stable level of applications.

Analysis from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) indicated that between January and June 2024, approximately 513,000 asylum applications were submitted in the EU+. With more applications typically expected in the latter half of the year, the Agency predicts that EU+ countries could receive around a million applications by year-end.

In the first half of 2024, Syrian asylum applications increased by 7 percent compared to the same period in 2023, reaching 71,000. Afghans remained the second-largest nationality group with 45,000 applications but saw an 18 percent decrease. Following a surge in boat arrivals in the Canary Islands recently, Malians and Senegalese lodged three times as many applications compared to the same period in 2023.

Germany received almost a quarter of all EU+ applications in the first half of the year with 124,000 submissions. However, this represented a one-fifth decrease compared to the same period in 2023. Spain received 88,000 applications, maintaining its position as the second-highest recipient with stable numbers year-over-year. In contrast, Italy saw its application numbers rise by over a third to reach 85,000.

Cyprus continued to receive the most applications per capita with 4,900 submissions. This trend highlights significant national differences within overall stable figures across EU+ countries.

The data underscores varying trends across different nations within the EU+, reflecting both increases and decreases in asylum application numbers at national levels despite overall stability.

With inputs from WAM