Silent Migrant Crisis: EU Will Face Million Asylum Applications This Year

Over one million applications for asylum will be made in Europe this year, extrapolations from the last figures suggest, as Syrians and Afghans continue to overwhelmingly dominate arrivals.

Statistics and analysis by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), a body which strives to “bringing greater convergence to asylum and reception practices across the EU”, clearly show the bloc and its ‘EU+’ area neighbours Norway and Switzerland will welcome over one million asylum applications for the second year running.

Applications in the first six months of 2024 are nearly identical to 2023 at 512,989, the latest figures show. {snip}

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In all, the level of arrivals of 2024 and 2023 are the highest since the Europe migrant crisis of 2015-16, when Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany unilaterally declared the continent open. {snip}

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“Syrians continued to lodge by far the most applications”, the EUAA noted, making up for 14 per cent of all applications. “Afghans continued to be the second largest nationality group” they stated. As for where migrants go — as reflected by where applications are made — Germany continues to keep its position at the head of the pack. It took 124,000 applications int he first six months of the year, around a quarter of all received in Europe.