PR 13/2015
8 July 2015
EASO Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the EU
Today EASO released its yearly reference report: The Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union 2014. The report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the situation of asylum in the EU+ (EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland) by examining requests for international protection to the EU, analysing application and decision data, and focusing on some of the most important countries of origin of applicants for international protection.
In 2014 there were more than 660 000 applications for international protection in the EU+ - the highest number since the beginning of EU-level data collection in 2008. The highest numbers of asylum applicants recorded were citizens of Syria, the Western Balkan countries combined, and Eritrea. The main receiving countries were Germany, Sweden, Italy, France and Hungary. At the end of 2014, more than 500 000[1] people were awaiting a decision on their asylum application in the EU+; the volume of pending applications increased by +37% compared to 2013. The number of applications from citizens of Western Balkan countries reached 110 000 with a significant share from Serbia and Kosovo. The ongoing crisis in Syria posed a key challenge in the EU+ in 2014 as the number of applications from Syrians reached more than 128 000. Afghanistan remained one of the main countries of origin of applicants last year; the 42 745 applications for 2014 represented a 53 % increase compared to 2013. It also had the highest share of unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in the EU+ (6 155). There were more than 14 000 Ukrainian applicants, which was a 13-fold increase compared to 2013.
The report also looks into key asylum related developments in 2014 such as the Task Force Mediterranean, reception capacity in the Member States, developments in national asylum systems and EASO support. Amongst other things, EASO continued to provide operational support to Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and Cyprus and successfully piloted join-processing projects and a project with Malta and Italy on facilitation of irregular migrants. EASO has trained over 2,800 asylum and reception officials. Moreover, EASO held external dimension activities with a number of states including Turkey, Serbia, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. Furthermore, EASO launched new statistical data collection under its Early warning and Preparedness System (EPS), which sees contribution from all EU+ states on a monthly basis, adding to information available from Eurostat.
Latest figures for 2015 show that the number of applications for international protection continues to rise. In the first 5 months of this year, there was a 68% rise in the number of applications for international protection in the EU+ compared to the same period last year. This follows the 43 % increase in the number of applications in 2014 compared to 2013. In 2015 new trends seem to be emerging. The number of Kosovar applicants was very high until March 2015. Kosovo was the main country of origin of applicants registered in the EU+ between January and May 2015, ahead of Syria. This is despite the fact that the volume of Syrian applicants was higher than the level recorded over the same period in 2014. There has also been a substantial increase in the numbers of Afghan applicants in recent months. Since January 2015, a significant rise in the number of applicants claiming to be unaccompanied minors has also been noted in the EU+. They primarily originated from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Syria and Somalia and were mainly received by Sweden, Austria, Germany, and Italy.
Any further information may be obtained from the European Asylum Support Office by contacting Mr Jean-Pierre Schembri on the following e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For the Annual Report please click here.
For the Main Findings of the Annual Report please click here.
For the video please click here.
