Brussels, 24/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The number of asylum seekers in the EU rose steeply in 2013, according to the statistics published by the Statistical Office of the EU (Eurostat) on Monday 24 March.
Syrians were the nationality to call for international protection in the highest numbers. With nearly 435,000 applicants, 90% of whom were “new” candidates, there were around 100,000 more Syrians than in 2012, when Eurostat reported 335,000 from that country.
In 2013, more Syrians sought asylum than any other nationality (50,000 nationals, or 12% of the total), followed by Russians (41,000 applications, 10%), Afghans (20,000 applicants, 6%), Serbians (22,000, 5%), Pakistanis (21,000, 5%) and Kosovars (20,000, 5%).
The highest number of asylum applications were made in Germany (127,000 applications, 29% of the total), followed by France (65,000, 15%), Sweden (55,000, 13%), the United Kingdom (30,000, 7%) and Italy (28,000, 6%). These five countries accounted for 70% of all asylum applications made in 2013.
Compared to the population of each member state, the highest rates of asylum seekers were observed in Sweden (5,700 asylum seekers per million head of population), Malta (5,300), Austria (2,100), Luxembourg (2,000) and Hungary and Belgium (1,900 each). (SP)