The number of asylum applications in Europe has surged in 2023, with more than 1 million people seeking refuge in the continent.
Nina Gregori, director of the European Union’s Asylum Agency (EUAA), said the total number of asylum applications in the EU is expected to exceed 1 million in 2023. In October alone, the agency recorded around 123,000 applications, the highest monthly figure in seven years, according to German website Tagesschau.
According to the EUAA, the figures recorded in October represent a 22% increase compared to the same period last year.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) recorded 325,801 asylum applications in Germany by the end of November, which represents a 52% increase compared to the first 11 months of the previous year.
Germany remains the main destination for asylum seekers in the EU, according to the EU’s Asylum Agency, after Berlin received 27% of all asylum applications in October. This is more than France and Italy, which have the second and third largest number of asylum applications, respectively.
The EU is seeking to change its asylum policy, after EU countries reached an agreement in June to review the bloc’s systems for a more equitable joint reception of asylum seekers and migrants, according to the Swedish presidency of the bloc.
The reform aims to speed up the processing of asylum applications for a number of migrants who are at the borders. The agreement reached in June 2023 opens the door for negotiations in the European Parliament with a view to adopting the reform before the European elections scheduled for June 2024.
The number of refugees from Ukraine has also continued to rise. By the end of October, 4.16 million people had been registered in the EU seeking refuge from the Russian war on their country.
The EUAA said this is up by around 320,000 from January. By the end of October, Germany was the most important recipient country in the EU with around 1.17 million Ukrainian refugees, while Poland came in second with 957,000 Ukrainians.
This is a significant increase in the number of asylum seekers in Europe, and it is likely to put a strain on the bloc’s asylum system. The EU is working to reform its asylum policy, but it is unclear whether these reforms will be enough to cope with the growing number of asylum seekers.
