Over 210 000 first time asylum seekers in the EU from April to June of 2015 – A third are from Syria or Afghanistan

During the second quarter of 2015 (from April to June 2015), 213 200 first time asylum seekers applied for protection in the European Union (EU), up by 15% compared with the first quarter of 2015 and by 85% compared with the second quarter of 2014, reported Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In particular, the number of Syrians and Afghans rose considerably to reach almost 44 000 and 27 000 respectively. They represent the two main citizenships of first time asylum applicants in the EU over the second quarter 2015, accounting for a third of all first time applicants. Kosovars, who were the top citizenship of first time asylum applicants in the first three months of 2015, have seen their number drop from almost 50 000 during the first quarter 2015 to just over 10 000 in the second quarter 2015.

Highest number of first time applicants relative to the population in Hungary

Compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rates of registered first time applicants during the second quarter 2015 were recorded in Hungary (3 317 first time applicants per million inhabitants), ahead of Austria (2 026) Sweden (1 467) and Germany (997). In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Slovakia (5 applicants per million inhabitants), Croatia (6), Romania (19), Slovenia (20), Lithuania (21), Portugal (24) and the Czech Republic (26). In the second quarter 2015, there were 420 first time asylum applicants per million inhabitants in the EU.

One out of five first time asylum seekers originates from Syria

Syria (44 000 first time asylum applicants, or 21% of the total number of first time applicants in the EU) was during the second quarter of 2015 the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU. Of the 44 000 Syrians who applied for the first time for asylum in the EU in the second quarter 2015, more than three quarters were registered in four Member States: Germany (16 300), Hungary (8 400), Austria (5 300) and Sweden (3 900). In total, Syrians represented the main citizenship of asylum seekers in ten EU Member States.

Afghanistan (27 000 first time asylum applicants, or 13% of the total number of first time applicants in the EU) represented the second main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU in the second quarter 2015. Of the 27 000 Afghans seeking asylum protection for the first time in the EU during the period April-June 2015, more than half (13 600) applied in Hungary.

With 17 700 first time applicants (or 8% of the EU total) during the second quarter 2015, Albania completed the top 3 citizenships of asylum seekers in the EU. Almost 90% of them applied in Germany (15 400).

Almost 600 000 persons subject of asylum applications pending

At the end of June 2015, around 592 000 persons were the subject of an application for asylum protection in the EU still under consideration by the responsible national authority. Last year, at the end of June 2014, there were nearly 365 000. With 305 800 pending applications at the end of June 2015 (or 52% of the EU total), Germany had by far the largest share in the EU, ahead of Sweden (56 000, or 9%), Italy (48 300, or 8%), France (36 100, or 6%), the United Kingdom (29 400, or 5%) and Greece (29 200, or 5%).