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Cyprus in first place in EU in asylum applications

24/03/2022 08:49

Cyprus had the highest number of registered first-time asylum applicants per million residents in 2021, according to the latest data released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical service.

A total of 14,799 new asylum applications were registered per million inhabitants in Cyprus in 2021, ahead of Austria (4,111) and Slovenia (2,474).

The lowest numbers were recorded in Hungary (only four first-time applicants per million population), followed by Estonia (57) and Slovakia (60).

In the EU as a whole that year, there were 1,196 first-time asylum applicants per million population.

The data refers exclusively to first time asylum applications and not repeated or subsequent applications.

Eurostat also notes that there was an increase of 28% of first time asylum applications in the entirety of the EU in 2021, compared to the previous year, with applications increasing from 417,100 in 2020 to 535,000 in 2021 in absolute numbers.

The numbers are around the level recorded in 2014 (530,600), before the peaks of 2015 and 2016 due to war in Syria, when the number of first time applicants climbed to 1,216,860 persons and 1,166,815 άτομα respectively.

First time asylum applications almost doubled in Cyprus over the previous year, rising from 7,065 in 2020 to 13,260 in 2021 in absolute numbers.

New asylum applications have also been increasing in Cyprus, starting from 1,480 in 2014 and climbing to 2,105 in 2015 and 2,840 in 2016. New asylum applications have been increasing since despite the drop in numbers in most of the EU.

Germany comes first in asylum applications

With 148,175 first-time asylum applicants registered in 2021, Germany accounted for over one quarter of all first-time applicants in the EU (28%).

It was followed by France (103,790 or 19%) and Spain (62,050 or 12%), ahead of Italy (43,900 or 8%) and Austria (36,725 or 7%). These five Member States together accounted for almost three quarters of all first-time asylum applicants in the EU.

Asylum applicants in EU mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq

Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis lodged the most applications for asylum, together accounting for almost 40% of all first applicants in the EU Member States in 2021.

Syria remains the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU since 2013. In 2021, Syrians lodged 98,320 first-time applications (18% of the total number of first-time applications in the EU).

Afghans remained the second main citizenship for the third year in a row (83,520 or 16% of the EU total), while Iraqis ranked third in 2021 (25,965 or 5% of the EU total).

In 2021, Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis accounted for the largest number of first-time asylum applications in Germany (56% of all Syrian first-time asylum seekers in the EU, 28% of Afghans and 60% of Iraqis).

Most of the 13,260 first time asylum seekers in Cyprus in 2021 were citizens of Syria (3,055 people), followed by D. R. Congo (1,730 people), Nigeria (1,555), Pakistan (995), India (990), Cameroon (775), Bangladesh (685), Somalia (680) and Nepal (620).

More than half (54%) of the first-time asylum applicants in 2021 had Asian citizenship, while 25% had African citizenship, 10% European citizenship (non-EU) and 9% American citizenship.