EU Asylum Applications Down 23% With Huge Drop in Syrian Requests in 2025

New data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has found that asylum applications to the 27-nation bloc fell 23 percent during the first six months of 2025 after a significant drop in Syrians seeking asylum in Europe since the fall of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad last December.

Syrians, who had been the largest group of asylum seekers in the past decade, sharply dropped to fourth place in May, the EUAA found. “Monthly Syrian asylum applications fell from roughly 16,000 in October 2024 to just 3,100 in May 2025, a steep fivefold decrease in just seven months,” the agency said on Monday.

“This downturn, the like of which has not been seen since the initial wave of COVID-19 … is likely not due to any asylum policy changes in the EU+,” it added, referring to all 27 members of the bloc, as well as Switzerland and Norway.

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According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as of mid-May, “more than 500,000 Syrians are estimated to have crossed back into Syria since the fall of the Assad government”.

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