Brussels - During the second quarter of 2016 (from April to June 2016), 305,700 first time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the European Union (EU), up by 6% compared with the first quarter of 2016 (when 287 100 first time applicants were registered), the EU's statistical office Eurostat said on Thursday.
Brussels – During the second quarter of 2016 (from April to June 2016), 305,700 first time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the European Union (EU), up by 6% compared with the first quarter of 2016 (when 287 100 first time applicants were registered), the EU’s statistical office Eurostat said on Thursday.
With nearly 90,500 first time applicants between April and June 2016, Syrians remained the main citizenship of people seeking international protection in the EU Member States, ahead of Afghans (50,300 first time applicants) and Iraqis (34,300), the Office added.
During the second quarter 2016, the highest number of first time applicants was registered in Germany (with almost 187,000 first time applicants, or 61% of total first time applicants in the EU Member States), followed by Italy (27,000, or 9%), France (17,800, or 6%), Hungary (14,900, or 5%) and Greece (12,000, or 4%).
Among those Member States with high numbers of asylum seekers, numbers of first time applicants in the second quarter 2016 more than doubled compared with the previous quarter in Greece (+132%) as well as in Hungary (+118%), and rose notably in Poland (+65%) and Spain (+37%). In contrast, decreases were recorded in particular in the Nordic Member States – Denmark (-59%), Finland (-53%) and Sweden (-42%) – as well as in the Netherlands (-47%), Belgium (-44%) and Austria (-22%).
Compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rate of registered first time applicants during the second quarter 2016 was recorded in Germany (2,273 first time applicants per million inhabitants), followed by Hungary (1,517), Austria (1,241) and Greece (1,113). In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Slovakia (2 applicants per million inhabitants), Romania (11), Portugal (15), Lithuania (24), the Czech Republic and Estonia (both 26).
In the second quarter 2016, there were in total 599 first time asylum applicants per million inhabitants in the EU as a whole. Syria (30% of the total number of first time applicants) remained during the second quarter of 2016 the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU Member States. Of the 90,500 Syrians who applied for the first time for asylum in the EU in the second quarter 2016, 80% were registered in Germany (71,800).
Syrians represented the main citizenship of asylum seekers in eight EU Member States. Afghanistan (16% of the total number of first time applicants) was the second main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU Member States in the second quarter 2016. Of the 50,300 Afghans seeking asylum protection for the first time in the EU Member States during the period April-June 2016, nearly two-thirds applied in Germany (32,600).
Afghans represented the main citizenship of asylum seekers in eight EU Member States. With 34,300 first time applicants (or 11% of the EU total) during the second quarter 2016, Iraq was the third country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU Member States. More than 80% were registered in Germany (27,800).
