The number of first-time asylum applicants reached 54,565 in February, representing an 85 per cent increase compared with the same time in 2021 when 29,470 people sought international protection across the 27- EU nation-bloc.
According to data from the European Office for Statistics, Eurostat, one of the main causes for the increasing numbers of asylum seekers is the surge in Ukrainian first-time applicants which increased by 568 per cent in February, from 355 recorded in January, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Moreover, the number of applications filed month-on-month has also surged by three per cent in February, from 52,810 recorded in the previous month.
In addition, the number of subsequent applications, which indicates people who reapplied for asylum after receiving their response on the previous application, increased in February, as 6,150 of those were recorded during the second month of 2022. This was further down by 46 per cent when compared to the corresponding time in 2021 and down by one per cent compared to January.
Furthermore, out of 54,565 first-time applications filed in February, the majority of those were filed by Afghani nationals (7,075), which represents 12.9 per cent of all applications, followed by Syrians (6,775), Venezuelans (4,205), Columbians (3,110) and Ukrainians (2,370).
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Eurostat’s data further shows that over a quarter of first-time applicants, or 14,930 applications, were filed to German authorities, accounting for 27 per cent of all first-time applicants in the EU. Germany was followed by Spain with 9,295 applications or 17 per cent of all applications filed, like France, which counted 9,085 of those.
Other countries with high rates of first-time applications filed in February include Italy, with 5,160 applications representing nine per cent of all applications, and Austria, with 3,105 applications or six per cent of the total. These five Member States accounted for over three=quarters or 76 per cent of all first-time applicants in the bloc.
The number of unaccompanied minors applying for asylum for the first time has also surged, peaking at 2,215 – up by 74 per cent compared to February 2021 when it stood at 1,275 and further up by one per cent compared to January 2022 when 2,180 individuals from this category filed such requests.
The top origin countries for unaccompanied minors in February 2022 were Afghanistan (1,015), Syria (335), and Somalia (125), while Germany (480), Austria (455), and Belgium (235) were the three Member States that received the highest numbers of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors for this time period.
