The European Union Agency for Asylum – EUAA announced that this year witnessed more than 800,000 people applying for asylum in 27 European Union countries in addition to Norway and Switzerland, noting that this number is the highest number compared to similar periods of previous years, since 2016.
On Tuesday, October 10, the German newspaper “Welt” stated, citing figures from the EUAA, that exactly 801,459 asylum requests had been submitted in 29 countries in the period from the beginning of the year until October 3.
Welt highlighted that the countries that witnessed the largest increases were Latvia, with an increase of 168%, and Estonia, by 119%. This is attributed to the significant increase in irregular migration from Belarus.
Germany came in third place with an increase of 74% in the number of applications compared to the same period last year, indicating that Syrians, Afghans and Turks are at the forefront of asylum seekers in Germany, respectively.
While the largest declines were recorded in Denmark, down by 56%, Malta down by 54%, Cyprus down by 52% and Austria down by 41%. Hungary was the country with the lowest number of asylum applications so far this year, with only 26 applications.
The EUAA assumes that the number of applications this year will reach one million.
At the beginning of this month, Pope Francis expressed his criticism of “hostile nationalisms” against immigrants, calling for a European response to immigration to prevent the Mediterranean from becoming a “cemetery of dignity,” while French President Macron appreciated the Pope’s stance toward immigrants, he said, “We cannot accommodate all the misery in the world.”
