In these times of debate, the reality of the numbers helps place the situation in its proper context, without the ideological or media exploitation to which politicians and media figures engage daily.
During the first quarter of 2018, 131,000 new asylum seekers requested international protection in the European Union. This figure is down by 15% compared to the fourth quarter of 2017.
Majority of applications filed in Germany, France, and Italy
In the first quarter of 2018, the highest number of new applications were recorded in Germany with 34,400 new asylum seekers, representing 26% of the total. France comes in second with 25,300 new applicants (19%), followed by Italy with 17,800 (14%), and Greece (13,000, or 10%).
Among the Member States with more than 2,000 new asylum seekers in the first quarter of 2018, the number of new asylum seekers decreased the most in Austria (-30%), Germany (-25%), Sweden (-24%), and Italy (-22%) compared to the previous quarter. Conversely, increases were recorded in Belgium and Spain (+9% each) and the Netherlands (+7%).
Increase in acceptances during the migration crisis
Throughout the European Union, the migration crisis that began in 2015 led to a significant increase in asylum applications that same year, with more than one million applications recorded.
However, the 28 EU countries were unable to agree on the distribution of refugees. In September 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to grant asylum to all Syrian refugees arriving on German soil. But that same year, Hungary closed its borders with barbed wire fencing. The hotspot system, designed as migrant registration centers to distribute new arrivals, failed. Facing an influx of migrants and European criticism, Germany reinstated border controls, as did other European countries.
Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nigeria: main countries of origin of applicants
As in 2016 and 2017, Syrian citizens were the most numerous in seeking international protection, with 15,800 first-time applicants in the first quarter of 2018. Syrians were followed by Iraqis (9,200), Afghans (7,700), and Nigerians (6,400). During the first quarter of 2018, applicants from these countries represented 30% of first-time asylum seekers.
Nearly one million asylum applications still pending
The number of pending applications remains considerable: at the end of March 2018, more than 892,000 asylum applications in EU Member States were under review by national authorities. However, this figure is down by 10% compared to March 2017 and by 4% compared to December 2017. With 420,300 pending applications at the end of March 2018, representing nearly half of the EU total (47%), Germany held the largest share, followed by Italy (143,400 or 16%) and Austria (51,400 or 6%).
However, these figures should be put into perspective when considering the percentage of new applications relative to the country’s total population.
Thus, in the first quarter of 2018, the highest rate of new applications was recorded in Cyprus with 1,551 new applicants per million inhabitants. Greece follows with 1,204 per million, then Malta (856) and Luxembourg (753). On the other hand, the lowest rates were observed in Estonia (7 applicants per million inhabitants), Slovakia (8), Lithuania (13), Poland (15), and Romania (18). During the first quarter of 2018, there were a total of 257 new asylum seekers per million inhabitants in the entire EU.
