ROME: The number of asylum seekers in the EU, Norway and Switzerland decreased slightly in the first half of the year but still stands at over half a million, reported German Press Agency (dpa), based on official figures on Monday.
From January to the end of June, the Malta-based European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) recorded a total of 513,000 new applications – a slight fall of 6,000 compared to the first half of 2023.
The statistics include figures from all EU countries as well as Norway and Switzerland, which are not part of the union.
The most applications among the 29 countries were again registered in Germany: 124,000, or almost a quarter of the total number. However, the EUAA said that around 30,000 fewer applications were received by German authorities than in the same period last year.
Across the entire region, the agency expects more than a million applications by the end of the year.
Some 71,000 asylum seekers came from war-torn Syria, a 7 per cent increase over the prior year. They were followed by 45,000 Afghans applying for asylum, which marked an 18 per cent decrease.
From Venezuela, 37,000 people applied for asylum, almost all of them in Spain.
Not included in these figures are approximately 4.5 million people from Ukraine who have sought refuge in the EU and received temporary protection since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
In the EU-wide comparison, Spain ranked second in absolute terms in the first half of the year with 88,000 applications, about the same as last year. Italy followed closely behind in third place with 85,000 applications, an increase of about one-third.
Per capita, the small country of Cyprus had the most applications with 4,900.
Figures from the United Kingdom, which is no longer part of the EU, are not included in the statistics.
– Bernama, dpa
