Almost a million asylum applications were submitted in EU member states, including Norway and Switzerland, last year. That is the highest number since 2016, when there were almost 1.25 million asylum applications. Compared to 2021, half more asylum applications were made in the past year. That will be revealed on Wednesday provisional figures of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).
Of the approximately 966,000 asylum applications in European countries in 2022, most (132,000) came from Syrians, followed by Afghans (129,000) and Turks (55,000). The EUAA figures do not include the approximately four million refugees from Ukraine: they do not have to submit to regular asylum procedures.
The European figures are broadly in line with those of the Netherlands. Last year, more than 35,000 people made their first asylum application here, according to published last month figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics. That was an increase of 44 percent compared to 2021 and the highest number since 2015. Most asylum applications in the Netherlands also come from Syrians, Afghans and Turks.