Brussels, 22/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - According to new figures published by Eurostat on Friday 22 March, the number of asylum applicants registered in the EU27 rose to more than 330 000 in 2012. It is estimated that around 90% of these were new applicants and around 10% were repeat applicants. In 2011, there were 302,000 asylum applicants. According to the EU's Official Statistics Office, in 2012, Syrians became the second biggest group of asylum seekers, accounting for 7% of all requests. Afghanistan (8% of the total number of applicants) remained the country with the biggest group of nationals applying for asylum just ahead of Russia (7%), Pakistan (6%) and Serbia (6%).
In Bulgaria, Cyprus and Spain, Syrians are the main nationality seeking asylum.
Unsurprisingly, most asylum seekers are distributed between five countries, Germany, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Belgium. 70% of all requests are made in these countries.
Eurostat also indicated that, in 2012, the highest number of applicants was registered in Germany (77,500 applicants, or 23% of total applicants), followed by France (60,600, or 18%), Sweden (43,900, or 13%), the United Kingdom (28,200, or 8%) and Belgium (28,100, or 8%). These five member states accounted for more than 70% of all applicants registered in the EU27 in 2012.
Compared with the population of each member state, the highest rates of applicants registered were recorded in Malta (5,000 applicants per million inhabitants), Sweden (4,600), Luxembourg (3,900), Belgium (2,500) and Austria (2,100), and the lowest in Portugal (30), Estonia and Spain (both 55) and the Czech Republic (70). In 2012 in the EU27, 73% of first instance decisions made on asylum applications were rejections, while 14% of applicants were granted refugee status, 10% subsidiary protection and 2% authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons. (SP/transl.fl)