Asylum applications in the European Union fell by around 12 percent in 2024, according to a new report by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA). Just over one million initial applications were recorded last year by the Malta-based agency across the 27 EU member nations, along with Norway and Switzerland.
This figure compared to 1.14 million in 2023, based on the report seen by German news agency DPA and newspaper Welt am Sonntag. According to the reported EUAA data, there were 235,925 initial applications in Germany.
Spain and Germany Top the List
Despite these numbers, Germany experienced a significant decrease of 30.2 percent in asylum applications compared to 2023, according to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). The EUAA report stated that most people seeking asylum in the EU came from Syria (15 percent), Afghanistan (8.7 percent), Venezuela (7.3 percent), and Turkiye (5.5 percent).
The trend in Germany mirrored this data, with BAMF’s figures showing that most applicants came from Syria, Afghanistan, and Turkiye. Spain ranked second among European countries with the most asylum applications, registering 165,398 applicants. It was followed by France with 158,512 applications and Italy with 154,824.
Hungary received only 29 new asylum applications in 2024. There has been an escalating battle between Brussels and Budapest centered around a massive fine levied against Hungary for breaching EU asylum laws. In June 2024, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) fined Hungary $205 million for breaking the EU’s asylum laws by “unlawfully detaining” asylum-seekers and deporting them before they could appeal the rejection of their applications.
Migration is also a major issue for voters in February’s German election, with the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) gaining ground with its anti-immigrant rhetoric.
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EU asylum applications fall in 2024, with Germany seeing 30% drop
cgtn.com
