Brussels, 10/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - More than 410,000 (413,800 exactly) first-time asylum seekers registered in the third quarter of 2015, according to an announcement from Eurostat on Thursday 10 December. This number was almost double that for the third quarter of 2014.
During the third quarter of 2015, the number of Syrians and Iraqis seeking international protection has more than tripled compared with the previous quarter to reach almost 138,000 and 44,500 respectively; while the number of Afghans has doubled to more than 56,500.
These three groups represent the three main nationalities of first-time asylum applicants in the EU member states over the third quarter 2015, explains Eurostat. More than half applied for asylum in Germany or Hungary (both with slightly over 108,000 first-time applicants, or “26% each” of total first-time applicants, adds Eurostat. They are followed by Sweden (42,500, or 10%), Italy (28,400, or 7%) and Austria (27,600, or 7%).
Compared with the previous quarter, the number of first-time asylum applicants in the third quarter 2015 notably jumped in Finland (+842%), Hungary (+231%), Sweden (+197%), Belgium (+191%), Luxembourg (+154%).
Syria (33% of the total number of first-time applicants) was again during the third quarter the main nationality of asylum seekers. Of the 137,900 Syrians who applied for the first time for asylum in the EU in the third quarter 2015, almost two-thirds were registered in two member states: Hungary (53,100) and Germany (35,800). In total, Syrians represented the main citizenship of asylum seekers in eleven EU member states.
Afghanistan (14% of the total number of first-time applicants) remained the second main country of citizenship of asylum seekers. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)