For the first time since 2015, the number of asylum applications lodged in the EU in 2019 was higher than the previous year, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) said on Wednesday 26 February.
The increase in filings was 13% compared to 2018 and, a new development according to the EASO, this increase is related more to applications from nationals of countries with visa facility with the EU than to strict illegal immigration, the agency writes in a release.
More than 714,000 applications...