Sunday 18th July 2021
Syrians in particular seek refuge
Germany receives most of the asylum applications in the EU
In the first half of the year, almost 200,000 people applied for asylum in the EU, Norway and Switzerland. Most of them hope to find refuge in Germany. Because of the corona pandemic, the numbers are lower than usual.
In the first six months of this year, Germany received more asylum applications than any other country in the EU. This is what “Welt am Sonntag” reports, according to the preliminary report, citing the new confidential “Situation Report: Migration and Refugee Situation” from the EU Commission. The report in front of the newspaper refers to previously unpublished figures from the EU asylum authority EASO, short for “European Asylum Support Office”.
Germany, with 47,231 new asylum applications in the first half of the year, is ahead of France with 32,212, Spain with 25,823 and Italy with 20,620. Austria recorded 9651 asylum applications, ranking sixth after that. Latvia (58), Estonia (30) and Hungary came in last with 19 asylum applications in the first six months. According to the document, 36 percent of applicants in Germany are Syrians, followed by Afghans (18 percent) and Iraqis (6.6 percent).
A total of 194,808 asylum applications were made in the EU plus Switzerland and Norway in the first half of the year. This largely corresponds to the figures for the same period in the previous year. Both half-year values were therefore lower than in previous years due to the corona pandemic.
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